Ctbrarp  of  Che  Cheological  ^eminarjp 


PRINCETON  • NEW  JERSEY 


XTPoO 

.El  I 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


ANCIENT  EGYPT 


DESCRIBED  BY 

v/ 

ADOLF  ERMAN 


TRANSLATED  BY 

H.  M.  TIRARD 


WITH  400  ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  THE  TEXT , AND  11  PLATES 


ICottimt 

MACMILLAN  AND  CO. 

AND  NEW  YORK 

I 894 


All  rights  reserved 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/lifeinancientegy00erma_1 


PREFACE 


The  need  of  a popular  work  on  the  manners  and  customs  of 
Ancient  Egypt  has  long  been  felt  by  the  English  public.  Herr 
Erman  supplied  this  need  in  Germany  by  the  publication  of  his 
Aegypten , but  no  English  scholar  has  attempted  to  fill  this  gap  in 
Egyptian  literature  since  the  time  of  Wilkinson. 

In  the  light  of  modern  discoveries  Wilkinson’s  valuable 
book,  as  far  as  the  letterpress  is  concerned,  has  now  long  become 
obsolete  ; the  illustrations  on  the  other  hand  will  always  remain 
a mine  of  wealth  to  every  writer  on  this  subject.  In  the  present 
work,  for  instance,  the  low  price  of  the  German  edition  forbade 
the  introduction  of  many  original  drawings,  and  Herr  Erman, 
who  chose  the  illustrations  specially  to  amplify  and  explain  the 
text,  found  that  the  three  works  most  useful  to  him  for  this 
purpose  were  the  Manners  and  Customs , by  Wilkinson,  the 
Denkmdler , by  Lepsius,  and  L' Ilistoire  de  F Art , by  Perrot-Chipiez. 

With  regard  to  the  text,  finding  little  to  help  him  in  the  work 
of  previous  scholars,  Herr  Erman  for  several  years  devoted  all  the 
time  he  could  spare  from  his  official  duties  to  original  research  on 
the  subject.  The  two  works  he  mentions  as  having  been  of  special 
service  to  him  are  Lepsius’  Denkmdler  and  The  London  Select 
Papyri ; in  fact  he  would  almost  regard  the  present  work  as  a 
commentary  on  those  great  publications.  A list  of  quotations  from 
these  works  is  Oven  at  the  end  of  this  edition.  The  author  has 

o 

confined  himself  to  the  treatment  of  those  periods  of  ancient 
Egyptian  history  which  have  been  styled  the  “ Old  Empire,”  the 
“Middle  Empire,”  and  the  “New  Empire”;  these  terms  have 
become  so  familiar  that  they  have  been  retained  ; they  are  fully 


VI 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


explained  on  p.  37.  After  the  time  of  the  20th  dynasty,  the 
subject  becomes  too  complicated  for  a work  of  this  size,  and  too 
much  mixed  with  foreign  elements  to  be  termed  purely  Egyptian. 
The  orthography  of  the  Egyptian  names  was  decided  upon  by  the 
author  after  much  thought  and  consideration;  it  has  therefore  been 
retained  in  the  English  edition,  with  the  exception  of  the  name 
“ Thothmes,”  which,  on  account  of  its  familiarity  to  English 
readers,  has  been  substituted  (with  Herr  Erman’s  approval)  for 
its  more  correct  form.  In  the  same  way  the  forms  Osiris,  Isis, 
and  Horus,  were  retained  by  the  author  in  the  German  edition. 

In  the  present  English  edition  there  have  been  but  few  altera- 
tions ; a few  notes  have  been  added  referring  to  English  Egypto- 
logical works,  or  to  the  more  recent  research  of  foreign  scholars, 

as  in  the  case  of  the  translation  of  (p-  85),  giving  the 

result  of  Borchardt’s  later  work  on  the  subject,  with  which  Herr 
Erman  is  in  full  agreement. 

Herr  Erman  wishes  to  inform  his  English  readers  that  he  is 
fully  aware  that  many  alterations  might  be  introduced  into  his 
work  to  bring  it  into  accord  with  the  results  of  later  research, 
but  he  feels  that  these  alterations  would  only  affect  details,  and 
not  the  general  scope  of  the  book.  Students  of  any  special  branch 
of  Egyptology  must  consult  other  text-books  dealing  with  their 
particular  subject  in  more  full  and  exact  detail.  For  instance, 
those  who  desire  to  study  the  plans  of  the  houses,  the  arts  and 
crafts  of  these  ancient  workmen,  the  tools  they  used,  the  methods 
of  workmanship  they  employed,  will  find  far  more  exact  and 
technical  information  in  the  publications  of  Prof.  Petrie,  which 
have  appeared  since  this  book  was  written — details  which  it  would 
be  impossible  to  incorporate  in  this  work  without  greatly  enlarging 
its  extent. 

The  valuable  work  of  the  Mission  Archeologique  Francaise, 
as  well  as  the  excavations  of  the  Egypt  Exploration  Fund,  carried 
on  under  the  direction  of  M.  Naville,  have  also  added  largely 
to  our  knowledge  in  many  particulars.  Thus,  the  great  altar 
with  its  outside  staircase,  discovered  last  year  in  the  great  temple 
of  Queen  Chnemtamun  (Hatasu)  at  Der  el  Bahri,  corresponds 


PREFACE 


vii 

in  many  respects  with  the  great  altar  of  the  “ House  of  the 
Sun,”  depicted  on  the  walls  of  the  tomb  of  the  high  priest 
Meryre'  at  Tell  el  Amarna,  described  in  the  twelfth  chapter  of 
this  work.  Neither  altar  can  claim  to  be  unique.  The  important 
papers  on  the  Rhind  Mathematical  Papyrus  by  F.  L.  Griffith  in 
the  April  and  May  numbers  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Bib.  Archae- 
ology throw  further  light  on  the  subject  of  Egyptian  mathematics, 
treated  at  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  chapter,  pp.  364-368  ; and 
the  paper  on  Hat  Nub  by  G.  W.  Fraser  in  the  January  number 
of  the  Proceedings  of  the  same  society  ought  certainly  to  be 
read  in  connection  with  the  account  of  the  transport  of  stone  at 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  chapter.  The  latter  paper  refers  not 
only  to  the  transport  of  alabaster  across  the  desert  from  the  great 
quarries  of  Hat  Nub,  but  also  to  the  important  scene  found  last 
season  by  M.  Naville  at  Der  el  Bahri,  depicting  the  transport  by 
boat  of  the  great  obelisks  of  Queen  Chnemtamun. 

My  thanks  are  especially  due  to  Prof.  Stuart  Poole,  who  has 
most  kindly  read  through  the  sheets  in  proof,  and  to  Herr  Erman 
for  his  help  and  courtesy  in  facilitating  the  appearance  of  the 
“child  of  his  brain  in  a new  dress.”  The  German  work  has 
already  received  a warm  welcome  ; my  hope  is  that  the  Aegypten , 
in  its  new  form  of  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt , may  give  pleasure 
and  help  to  many  who,  in  their  busy  life,  prefer  to  read  books  in 
their  mother  tongue. 

HELEN  MARY  TIRARD. 


June  1894, 

74  Harley  Street,  W. 


CONTENTS 


Introduction 

Traditional  Characteristics  of  Egypt — Importance  of  Egypt  in  the  History  of  the  World — Jewish 
and  Greek  Sources — The  Egyptian  Monuments — Difficulties  inherent  in  the  Subject 

Pages  1-6 


CHAPTER  I 

The  Land  of  Egypt 

Geology  of  the  Country — Climate  and  Inundation — Flora  and  Fauna — Character  of  the  Country  ; 
its  Influence  on  the  Nation — The  Twofold  Division  of  the  Country — Density  of  the  Population 
— The  Nomes  or  Provinces — Upper  Egypt — Middle  Egypt  and  the  Feyum — Lower  Egypt 

Pages  7-28 


CHAPTER  II 

The  People  of  Egypt 

Origin  of  the  Egyptians — Characteristics  of  the  Egyptian  People — Dawn  of  Egyptian  History 

Pages  29-35 

CHAPTER  III 

History  of  Ancient  Egypt 

Chronology — The  Old  Empire — The  Middle  Empire  ; the  Hyksos — The  Eighteenth  Dynasty — 
The  Religious  Reformation  — The  Nineteenth  Dynasty — The  Twentieth  Dynasty  — Later 
Periods  ......  ...  Pages  36-52 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  King  and  his  Court 

The  Status  of  Royalty  in  the  East — Titles  of  the  King — The  King  in  his  Divine  Character — The 
Regalia  and  the  Officials  belonging  thereto — Suite  of  the  King — The  King’s  Accession — The 
King  in  his  Priestly  Character — The  King  the  Head  of  the  Government — The  Court  and  the 
Court  Ceremonial — The  Courtiers — The  King’s  Consorts — The  Princes — Education  of  the 
Princes  .........  Pages  53-78 


CHAPTER  V 

Political  Conditions  in  Egypt  under  the  Old  Empire 

The  Nomes — The  Two  Halves  of  the  Kingdom — Government  of  Upper  Egypt ; the  “ Great  Men 
of  the  South” — Government  of  the  North  Country — The  Treasury  Department — Administra- 
tion of  Justice — Honours  and  Titles — Disintegration  of  the  Kingdom  under  the  Middle 


X 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


Empire — Hereditary  Government  of  the  Nornes — The  Nomarchs — Administration  of  Govern- 
ment in  the  Nornes — The  Treasury  Department  under  the  Middle  Empire — Decline  of  the 
Bureaucratic  Government — Social  conditions  in  the  Earlier  Period — Property  of  the  Aristocracy 
— The  Middle  Class  ...  . . . . . Pages  79-101 


CHAPTER  VI 

Political  Conditions  in  Egypt  under  the  New  Empire 

Disappearance  of  the  Old  Nobility — Soldiers  and  Priests  become  the  Ruling  Classes — The  Slaves 
of  the  King — The  Plighest  Officials  — The  Treasury  Department  — Scribes  and  Deeds  — 
The  Archives  — The  Official  and  his  Chief — Reprimand  and  Deposition  — Distinctions — 
Bestowal  of  the  “Gold” — The  Workmen  and  their  Life — Social  conditions  under  the  New 
Empire— Serfs  and  Bondservants  .....  Pages  102- 129 


CHAPTER  VII 

The  Police  and  the  Courts  of  Justice 

Robberies  in  the  Theban  Necropolis — Lawsuit  against  the  Tomb  Robbers — The  Courts  of  Justice 
under  the  Old  Empire — The  Courts  of  Justice  under  the  New  Empire — Laws  ; exceptional 
Procedure — A Case  of  High  Treason — Contracts — Statutes  regarding  Endowments 

Pages  1 30- 1 49 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Family  Life 

The  Status  of  the  Wife — Double  Marriages — The  Harem — Marriage  with  a Sister — Morality  of  the 
Nation — Inheritance  of  Property — Genealogies — Personal  Names — Surnames  and  Pet-names 
— Erasure  of  Names — Education  and  Morals  ....  Pages  150-166 


CHAPTER  IX 

The  House 

Preliminary  Remarks — Change  of  Site  of  the  Royal  Towns  — Memphis — Houses  of  the  Old 
Empire — Pictures  of  Houses  of  the  New  Empire — Country  Houses — Town  Residences  of 
the  New  Empire — Palace  of  the  King — Chairs  and  Couches — Tables  and  Boxes — Household 
Servants — The  Kitchen — The  Bakery — Beer — Meals — The  Garden — Vine  Culture — Prepara- 
tion of  Wine  ........  Pages  167-199 


CHAPTER  X 

Dress 

Preliminary  Remarks — Men’s  Dress  under  the  Old  Empire — -Men’s  Dress  under  the  Middle  Empire 
— Men’s  Dress  under  the  New  Empire — The  Royal  Short  Skirt — Robes  of  Office — Women’s 
Dress  under  the  Old  Empire — Women’s  Dress  under  the  New  Empire — General  Character  of 
Egyptian  Dress — The  Laundry — Men’s  Coiffure  under  the  Old  and  the  New  Empire — Women’s 
Coiffure  under  the  Old  and  the  New  Empire — Beards — Sandals  and  Shoes — Ornaments — 
Coverings  for  the  Head — Sticks  and  Sceptres — Rouging  and  Anointing — Cosmetics 

Pages  200-233 


CHAPTER  XI 

Recreation 

Preliminary  Remarks — Bird  Snaring — Fishing — Hippopotamus  Hunting — Fabulous  Animals— 
Desert  Hunting — Dogs  and  Monkeys — Bull  Fights — Gymnastics — Dancing — Music  and  Song 
— Feasts — Games  .......  Pages  234-258 


CONTENTS 


xi 


CHAPTER  XII 

Religion 

Development  of  Religion — Attempt  at  a Reformation — Legends  of  the  Gods — Re‘  and  Isis — The 
Rebellion  of  Mankind — The  Myth  of  Osiris — Other  Divine  Myths — Private  and  Public 
Worship — Ritual — Sacrifices — Festivals — The  House  of  the  God — Plan  of  the  Temples — 
Temple  Decoration — The  Names  of  the  Temples — The  Temple  Enclosure — The  Temple  of 
Tell  el  Amarna — The  Temple  Outbuildings — The  Priesthood  under  the  Old  Empire — The 
Priesthood  under  the  Middle  Empire — Rise  of  the  Priesthood — The  Priests  of  Arnon  under 
the  New  Empire — Dress  of  the  Priests — Gifts  of  the  Kings  to  the  Gods — Gifts  of  Ramses  III. 
to  the  Gods — The  Property  of  Amon  .....  Pages  259-305 

CHAPTER  XIII 

The  Dead 

The  Soul  of  Man  and  his  Ka — Influence  of  the  Myth  of  Osiris  on  Funerary  Worship — Burial 
— Tombs  of  the  Old  Empire — Tombs  of  the  Middle  Empire — Tombs  of  the  New  Empire — 
Treatment  of  the  Viscera — Employment  of  Magic — Costliness  of  the  Tombs — The  Funeral — 
Maintenance  of  Funerary  Services — Gradual  Discontinuance  of  Funerary  Worship — The 
Tombs  of  the  Kings  .......  Pages  306-327 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Learning 

The  Practical  Value  of  Learning — Schools — School  copybooks — Writing — Phonetic  Signs — Word- 
signs  and  Determinatives — Calligraphy — Orthography — Confusion  and  Contradictions  between 
the  Written  and  the  Spoken  Language  — A Religious  Commentary  — History — Astronomy 
— The  Calendar — Lucky  and  Unlucky  Days — Magic  Arts — Medicine  and  Magic — The 
Vessels — The  Science  of  Diagnosis — Remedies — Drugs  and  Prescriptions — Common  Diseases 
and  Household  Remedies — Egyptian  Prescriptions  in  Europe — Mathematics — Multiplication 
and  Division — An  Equation — Geometry  ....  Pages  328-368 


CHAPTER  XV 

Literature 

Narratives  of  the  Time  of  the  Middle  Empire — The  Story  of  King  Chufu — Tales  of  the  Time  of 
the  New  Empire — A Literary  Contention — The  Doctrine  of  the  Schools — Epistolary  Style — 
Popular  Songs — Drinking  Songs — Love  Songs— Hymns  to  the  Gods — An  Egyptian  Epic — 
The  Parallelism  of  Phrases — Rhythm  and  Alliteration  . . . Pages  369-396 


CHAPTER  XVI 

The  Plastic  Arts 

Comparison  between  Painting  and  Relief — Conventional  Laws  of  Ancient  Egyptian  Art — Traces  of 
a Freer  Style — Typical  Representations — The  Art  of  the  Middle  and  of  the  New  Empire — 
Attempted  Reformation  of  Art — Battle  Pictures — Sculpture  of  the  Old  Empire — Sculpture  of 
the  Middle  and  of  the  New  Empire — Technique  of  the  Sculpture — Artists — Mud  and  Brick 
Buildings — Employment  of  Wood — Pillars — Tendency  to  a Freer  Development  in  Architecture 
— Smaller  Objects  of  Art  ......  Pages  397-424 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Agriculture 

Irrigation — Ploughing — Hoeing  and  Sowing — Harvest — Threshing  and  Winnowing — Granaries — 
V arious  Species  of  Corn — Cattle  Breeding — Life  of  the  Herdsmen — Small  Stock  and  Birds — 
Cattle  Breeding  under  the  New  Empire — Status  of  the  Agricultural  Labourer  Pages  425-445 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


Xll 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Arts  and  Crafts 

Status  of  the  Artisan — Matting  and  Woven  Stuffs — Weaving  and  Spinning — Leatherwork — The 
Use  of  Wood  — Carpenters’  Tools  — Peculiarities  of  Egyptian  Carpenters’  Work  — Pottery 
— Glass  Blowing  and  Metal  Smelting — Metals — Goldsmiths’  Work — Sources  of  the  Various 
Metals — The  Nubian  Gold  Mines — The  Mines  of  Sinai — The  Quarries  of  Turah — -The 
Quarries  of  Silsilis  and  Syene — The  Quarries  of  HatnmamSt — The  Transport  of  Blocks  of 
Stone  .........  Pages  446-478 


CHAPTER  XIX 


Traffic  and  Trade 

Papyrus  Skiffs  and  Wooden  Boats — The  Boats  of  the  Old  Empire — The  Boats  of  the  Middle 
Empire — The  Boats  of  the  New  Empire — Litters — Donkeys  and  Horses — Carriages — Riding, 
Travelling,  and  Postal  Arrangements — Marketing — Barter  and  Exchange — Intercourse  with 
Nubia — Nubia  in  the  Earlier  Period — Nubia  under  the  New  Empire — The  Government  of 
Nubia — The  Divine  Land — The  Incense  Countries — Intercourse  with  the  North — Syria  and 
Palestine  ........  Pages  479-519 


CHAPTER  XX 

War 

Un warlike  Character  of  the  Egyptians — A War  under  the  Old  Empire — The  Wars  of  the  Middle 
Empire — The  Fortresses  of  the  Middle  Empire — Warlike  Character  of  the  New  Empire — 
The  Battle  of  Ivadesh — The  Syrian  Fortresses — Celebration  of  a Victory — Treaty  with  the 
Cheta  — Time  of  Peace  with  Syria — Frontier  Relations  — The  Libyans  and  the  Maritime 
Nations — A Naval  Engagement — Constitution  of  the  Army  under  the  New  Empire — The 
Divisions  of  the  Army  and  their  Equipment — The  Chariot  Force — The  Pitiable  Position  of 
the  Subordinate  Officers . ......  Pages  520-550 


LIST  OF  PLATES 


The  First  Cataract,  between  Assuan  and  Philae,  the 

Boundary  of  Egypt  and  Nubia  . . .To  face  page  8 

SlUT  DURING  THE  INUNDATION  . . . . „ 12 

The  Pyramids  of  Gizeh,  seen  from  the  South  . . „ 38 

Ramses  II.,  Statue  at  Turin  ....  ,,48 

Residence  of  a Wealthy  Egyptian  of  the  time  of  the 

1 8th  Dynasty  . . . . . . ,,180 

Feast,  with  Musicians  and  Dancing  Girls  . ,,250 

Egyptian  Ladies  at  a Feast  . . . . „ 255 

The  Temple  of  Luxor.  Restoration  by  Gnauth,  Chief 

Commissioner  for  Public  Buildings  . . . „ 281 

Funeral  Procession  and  Ceremonies  at  the  Tomb 

To  come  between  pages  320  & 321 

Inspection  of  the  Herds  of  Oxen  by  a High  Official  To  face  page  441 

Inspection  of  the  Flocks  of  Geese  and  of  their  Herds- 
men by  a High  Official  ....  ,,  442 


TABLE  OF  ABBREVIATIONS 


Abb. — Papyrus  Abbott,  published  in  the  “Select  Papyri  in  the  Hieratic  Character  from  the 
collections  of  the  British  Museum.”  London,  1844-1860. 

An. — The  Anastasi  Papyri,  in  the  Select  Papyri. 

A.  Z. — Zeitschrift  ftir  agyptische  Sprache  und  Altertumskunde. 

Bol. — die  Papyrus  von  Bologna,  published  by  Lincke,  Korrespondenzen  aus  der  Zeit  der  Rames- 
siden.  Leipzig,  1878. 

Br.  Wb. — Brugsch,  Hieroglyphisch-Demotisches  Worterbuch.  Leipzig,  1867-1880. 

Br.  Gr.  W. — Brugsch,  die  agyptische  Graberwelt.  Leipzig,  1868. 

Champ,  mon. — Champollion,  monuments  de  l’Egypte  et  de  la  Nubie.  Paris,  1835,  bis  1S45. 
Diim.  Flotte — Dtimichen,  die  Flotte  einer  agyptischen  Konigin.  Leipzig,  1868. 

Diim.  Res. — Dtimichen,  Resultate  der  . . . 1868  nach  Aegypten  entsendeten  . . . Expedition. 
Berlin,  1869. 

Ebers — Papyrus  Ebers.  Das  hermetische  Buch  tiber  die  Arzneimittel.  Herausgegeben  von  G. 
Ebers.  Leipzig,  1875. 

Harris  (I.) — Facsimile  of  an  Egyptian  Hieratic  Papyrus  of  the  reign  of  Rameses  III.  London, 
1876. 

Harris  500 — Papyrus,  published  in  Maspero’s  Etudes  egyptiennes.  Vol.  I.  Paris,  1886. 

Insc.  in  the  hier.  char. — Inscriptions  in  the  hieratic  character  from  the  collections  of  the  British 
Museum.  London,  1868. 

L.  A. — From  Lepsius’  Abklat  collection  in  the  Berlin  Museum. 

L.  D. — Lepsius’  Denkmaler  aus  Aegypten  und  Aethiopien.  1849-1858. 

Lee — Papyrus  Lee,  see  below,  P.  j.  T. 

Leyden — Papyrus,  published  in  Leemans,  Aegyptische  Monumenten  van  het  Nederlandsche 
Museum  van  Oudheden  te  Leiden.  Leyden,  1839-1882. 

Lieblein — Lieblein,  dictionnaire  de  noms  hieroglyphiques.  Leipzig,  1871. 

Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab. — Mariette,  catalogue  general  des  monuments  d’Abydos.  Paris,  1880. 

Mar.  Earn.— Mariette,  Karnak.  Leipzig,  1875. 

Mar.  Mast. — Mariette,  les  Mastabasde  l’ancien  empire.  Paris,  1881-1887. 

Mar.  mon.  div. — Mariette,  monuments  divers  recueillis  en  Egypte.  Paris,  1872,  bis  1877. 

M.  E. — Middle  Empire. 

N.  E. — New  Empire. 

O.  E. — Old  Empire. 

d’Orb. — Papyrus  d’Orbiney,  published  in  the  Select  Papyri. 

Pap.  de  Boul. — Mariette,  les  papyrus  egyptiens  de  Boulaq.  Paris,  1872-1877. 

Perrot — Perrot  et  Chipiez,  histoire  de  Part  dans  l’antiquite.  Tome  I.  l’Egypte.  Paris,  1882. 

P.  j.  T. — Deveria,  le  papyrus  judiciaire  de  Turin  et  les  papyrus  Lee  et  Rollin.  Paris,  1868  (from 
the  Journal  asiatique). 

Prisse — Prisse,  facsimile  d'un  papyrus  egyptien  en  caracteres  hieratiques.  Paris,  1847. 

Prisse  mon. — Prisse,  monuments  egyptiens.  Paris,  1847. 

R.  J.  H. — Rouge,  inscriptions  hieroglyphiques.  Paris,  1877-1879. 

Rollin — Papyrus,  see  above,  P.  j.  T. 

Ros.  M.  C. — Rosellini,  monumenti  dell’  Egitto  e della  Nubia.  Pisa,  1842-1844.  Part  entitled 
“ Monumenti  civili.” 

Ros.  M.  stor. — Ditto.  Part  entitled  “Monumenti  storici. ” 

Sail. — The  Sallier  Papyri,  published  in  the  Select  Papyri. 

Tur. — Pleyte  et  Rossi,  les  papyrus  de  Turin.  Leyde,  1869-1876. 

W. — Wilkinson,  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  ancient  Egyptians.  New  Edition  by  S.  Birch. 
London,  1878. 


INTRODUCTION 


The  Greeks,  who  from  the  seventh  century  B.C.  were  frequent  visitors  to 
the  Nile  Valley,  marvelled  to  find  there  a civilisation  which,  though  more 
ancient,  was  at  least  the  equal  of  their  own.  They  saw  to  their  astonish- 
ment powerful  populous  towns,  strange  gigantic  temples,  and  a people 
who  in  no  wise  resembled  the  inhabitants  of  Ionia  and  the  Greek  islands. 
This  people  honoured  as  gods  oxen  and  crocodiles,  which  were  served  by 
bald  linen -clad  priests  ; and  not  only  in  their  worship  did  they  differ 
from  other  nations,  but  also  in  their  daily  life  they  seemed  to  do  every- 
thing in  a way  contrary  to  that  usual  in  other  countries. 

“ Concerning  Egypt,”  says  the  wise  Herodotos,  “ I shall  extend  my 
remarks  to  a great  length,  because  there  is  no  country  that  possesses  so 
many  wonders,  nor  any  that  has  such  a number  of  works  which  defy 
description.  Not  only  is  the  climate  different  from  that  of  the  rest  of  the 
world,  and  the  rivers  unlike  any  other  rivers,  but  the  people  also,  in  most 
of  their  manners  and  customs,  exactly  reverse  the  common  practice  of 
mankind.  The  women  attend  the  markets  and  trade,  while  the  men  sit  at 
home  at  the  loom  ; and  here,  while  the  rest  of  the  world  works  the  woof 
up  the  warp,  the  Egyptians  work  it  down  ; the  women  likewise  carry 
burthens  upon  their  shoulders,  while  the  men  carry  them  upon  their  heads. 
A woman  cannot  serve  the  priestly  office  either  for  god  or  goddess,  but 
men  are  priests  to  both  ; sons  need  not  support  their  parents  unless  they 
choose,  but  daughters  must,  whether  they  choose  or  no.  In  other  countries 
the  priests  have  long  hair,  in  Egypt  their  heads  are  shaven  ; elsewhere  it 
is  customary,  in  mourning,  for  near  relatives  to  cut  their  hair  close  ; the 
Egyptians,  who  wear  no  hair  at  any  other  time,  when  they  lose  a relative 
let  their  beards  and  the  hair  of  their  heads  grow  long.  All  other  men 
pass  their  lives  separate  from  animals,  the  Egyptians  have  animals  always 
living  with  them  ; others  make  barley  and  wheat  their  food,  it  is  a disgrace 
to  do  so  in  Egypt,  where  the  grain  they  live  on  is  spelt,  which  some  call 
sea.  Dough  they  knead  with  their  feet,  but  they  mix  mud  with  their 
hands.  Their  men  wear  two  garments  apiece,  their  women  but  one. 
They  put  on  the  rings  and  fasten  the  ropes  to  sails  inside,  others  put 

B 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


them  outside.  When  they  write  or  calculate,  instead  of  going  like  the 
Greeks,  from  left  to  right,  they  move  their  hand  from  right  to  left  ; and 
they  insist,  notwithstanding,  that  it  is  they  who  go  to  the  right,  and  the 
Greeks  who  go  to  the  left.” 

However  one-sided  and  exaggerated  this  description  may  be,  it 
shows  us  how  strange  and  incomprehensible  the  Egyptians  appeared 
even  to  the  educated  among  the  Greeks,  who  really  tried  to  under- 
stand this  ancient  people.  The  Greek  populace  regarded  them  with 
the  same  timid  wonder  which  our  people  feel  for  the  pig-tailed  Chinese 
or  Japanese.  To  them  they  were  a subject  for  cheap  wit,  and  they 
made  jokes  about  their  worshipping  oxen  instead  of  sacrificing  them, 
revering  eels  instead  of  eating  them,  and  mourning  for  dead  cats  instead 
of  skinning  them.  Yet  in  spite  of  their  mockery,  they  had  a feeling  of 
respect  for  this  people,  who  with  their  ancient  civilisation  looked  upon  the 
Greeks  as  children  ; there  might  be  a deep  hidden  meaning  in  those 
strange  deities  and  temples,  and  it  was  possible  that  those  bald-headed 
priests  possessed  a secret  wisdom  unknown  to  the  ordinary  human  under- 
standing. Many  a Greek  scholar  made  a pilgrimage  to  the  Nile  Valley 
in  the  hope  that  these  priests  might  help  to  solve  the  great  riddle  of  the 
world  ; undaunted  by  the  timid  suspicious  way  in  which  they  were 
received,  they  tried  eagerly  to  grasp  the  meaning  of  the  old  religion, 
which  was  so  carefully  shrouded  in  mystery.  We  now  know  that  these 
mysteries  had  no  deep  signification,  and  that  the  Greek  philosopher  was 
of  far  higher  mental  standing  than  the  Egyptian  priest.  The  Greeks, 
however,  never  really  understood  this,  and  the  more  taciturn  and  reserved 
was  the  behaviour  of  the  priests,  the  more  did  the  Greeks  believe  that  they 
possessed  wonderful  secrets;  and  when  in  time  they  learned  these  mysteries 
and  understood  what  was  contained  in  the  sacred  writings  concerning 
Osiris  and  Isis,  Typhon  and  Horus,  their  faith  in  the  wisdom  of  the 
Egyptians  was  so  deeply  rooted  that  they  were  unable  to  look  with 
unprejudiced  eyes  at  those  myths,  so  devoid  of  spirituality.  They  inter- 
preted them  according  to  their  own  philosophic  ideas,  instead  of  perceiving 
their  emptiness. 

The  reverence  for  old  Egypt  increased  as  centuries  passed  by,  and  at 
last  Isis  and  even  the  jackal-headed  Anubis  were  admitted  into  the  circle 
of  the  Olympian  gods,  and  under  the  Romans  their  mysteries  were 
solemnised  everywhere  with  the  noise  of  the  sistrum  and  with  secret 
ceremonies. 

This  simple  faith  of  the  Graeco-Roman  world  in  the  unknown  wisdom 
of  the  Egyptians  has  lasted  seventeen  centuries  ; not  long  since  pyramids 
and  obelisks  were  regarded  with  wonder  and  dread,  mummy-cases  with 
their  foolish  daemonic  representations  were  looked  upon  with  unfeigned 
awe,  and  rosicrucians  and  freemasons  used  hieroglyphs  and  Egyptian 
symbols  as  talismans. 

Now  that  we  have  learned  to  understand  the  monuments,  to  read  the 
inscriptions,  and  to  study  the  literature  of  ancient  Egypt,  the  old  glamour 


INTRODUCTION 


3 


has  departed,  and  in  place  of  the  “ dim  religious  light  ” of  past  time,  the 
pitiless  sun  of  science  has  risen,  and  we  see  the  old  Egyptians  as  they 
really  were,  neither  better  nor  worse  than  other  folk.  Their  old  “ wisdom  ” 
appears  in  some  respects  less  wonderful,  in  others  it  even  grows  repulsive, 
while  their  customs  are  not  more  peculiar  than  those  of  other  nations,  and 
merit  neither  our  ridicule  nor  our  reverence.  In  one  point  only,  a point 
little  thought  of  by  the  ancients  themselves,  do  we  of  the  modern  world 
regard  the  Egyptians  with  the  greatest  admiration,  viz.  in  their  art,  which 
rose  to  a greatness  and  individuality  shared  by  few  other  nations. 

The  romantic  interest  of  old  time  has  now  given  place  to  more  serious 
study  awakened  by  the  progress  of  Egyptological  science.  The  history 
of  Egypt  probably  goes  back  to  a more  remote  age  than  that  of  any  other 
country,  with  the  exception  perhaps  of  Babylonia.  We  know  the  appear- 
ance of  the  country,  the  language,  literature,  religion,  and  art  of  as  early  a 
date  as  3000  B.C.,  while  of  European  countries  nothing  is  known  till  much 
later,  for  at  the  time  when  the  heroes  of  Homer  were  fighting  before  Troy, 
ancient  Egypt  had  already  passed  her  zenith  and  had  reached  her  period 
of  decadence.  The  civilisation  of  other  countries,  though  perhaps  as 
ancient,  has  left  no  traces,  while  in  Egypt  the  number  of  monuments 
which  have  come  down  to  us  seems  inexhaustible.  t 

This  happy  circumstance  is  due  to  the  Egyptian  climate  ; for  centuries 
the  dry  air  and  the  sand  have  preserved  to  us  even  such  delicate  objects 
as  clothes  and  papyrus  rolls.  Moreover,  under  the  influence  of  their 
strange  religious  conceptions  the  Egyptians  paid  particular  regard  to 
the  lasting  character  and  rich  adornment  of  their  tombs.  Whilst  most 
people  of  similar  standing  in  civilisation  have  been  content  with  perish- 
able graves,  the  Egyptians  prepared  for  their  mummies  vast  enduring 
monuments,  the  rich  decoration  of  which  gives  us  full  details  of  their 
manner  of  life.  Thus  in  Egypt  we  learn  to  know  those  centuries  of  the 
remote  past  which  in  other  countries  are  covered  with  a thick  veil. 

This  glimpse  into  the  old  world  teaches  us  much  ; it  dissipates  the 
false  notion  that  men  of  the  last  two  centuries  are  different  from  those  of 
the  more  ancient  past.  The  Egyptians  of  3000  B.C.  would  resemble 
modern  people  were  they  in  the  same  stage  of  civilisation  and  if  they 
had  the  same  surroundings.  Their  language,  religion,  and  government 
developed  in  a similar  way  to  those  of  later  nations.  The  world  was  the 
same  in  that  old  time  ; those  eternal  laws  which  ruled  them  are  still 
in  force.  The  progress  of  civilisation,  the  inventions  of  mankind,  have 
changed  but  little  ; the  old  kingdoms  were  founded  by  wars  similar  to 
those  by  which  are  founded  the  kingdoms  of  modern  times  ; ancient  art 
flourished  or  declined  under  the  identical  circumstances  which  influence 
the  art  of  to-day. 

In  one  other  respect  Egypt  is  full  of  instruction  for  us  ; in  no  other 
country  are  there  so  few  gaps  in  the  historic  sequence  of  events.  From 
the  time  of  King  Snofru  to  the  conquest  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and 
from  the  Greek  time  to  the  Arab  invasion,  we  have  an  almost  unbroken 


4 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


chain  of  monuments  and  writings.  In  this  country  alone  we  can  observe 
the  same  people  for  five  thousand  years  : the  language  changed  once,  the 
religion  twice,  the  nationality  of  the  ruling  class  many  times,  but  the  natural 
conditions  of  life  remained  steadfast.  How  far  this  people  maintained 
their  old  ideas  and  their  old  customs,  in  spite  of  all  these  changes,  is  a 
question  of  the  highest  scientific  interest.  Though  in  the  present  state  of 
our  knowledge  we  are  not  able  to  answer  this  question,  there  is  another 
point,  more  simple  and  scarcely  less  interesting,  to  which  an  answer  is 
forthcoming.  Doubtless  the  Egyptians  of  later  times  (1500  B.C.)  had 
much  intercourse  with  their  northern  neighbours  ; and  it  has  been  supposed 
that  these  ruder  nations  learned  much  from  the  Egyptians,  and  that  the 
Greeks  especially  borrowed  from  them  the  first  principles  of  their  art. 
We  now  know  that  the  classical  nations  received  little  direct  from  Egypt, 
but  that  the  Phoenicians  at  a certain  period  were  entirely  under  Egyptian 
influence,  and  that  this  busy  commercial  nation  spread  Egyptian  civilisation 
throughout  Greece  and  Italy. 

Three  sources  of  information  are  within  our  reach,  and  from  these  we 
can  learn  particulars  of  the  civilisation  of  ancient  Egypt.  I . The  monuments 
of  the  country  ; the  temples  and  tombs  with  their  endless  series  of  inscrip- 
tions, and  pictures  ; the  papyrus  rolls  from  the  old  libraries  and  archives, 
and  the  numerous  objects  of  daily  life  buried  with  the  mummies.  2.  The 
Hebrew  books  giving  us  the  stories  of  Moses  and  Joseph,  and  relating 
much  of  Egyptian  life.  3.  The  accounts  given  by  Greek  travellers. 

The  chain  of  history  which  we  link  together  from  the  monuments  has 
naturally  many  gaps,  but  if  we  ourselves  are  not  guilty  of  misapprehen- 
sions, and  if  we  take  care  not  to  confuse  the  monuments  of  different  periods, 
we  shall  obtain  from  them  a very  fair  and  comparatively  true  view  of  the 
development  of  Egyptian  civilisation. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  how  much  we  can  learn  from  the  “ Books  of 
Moses ; ” much  may  have  been  re-edited  in  later  times,  and  must  be 
accepted  with  caution  as  representing  Egyptian  life  of  an  earlier  period. 

As  to  the  Greek  writers,  the  most  important  is  Herodotos.  What 
Herodotos  learnt,  by  hearsay  from  the  priests,  of  early  Egyptian  history  is 
mostly  legendary  and  unsafe  ; but  what  he  himself  observed  gives  us  as 
trustworthy  an  account  as  is  possible  to  obtain  from  a tourist  who, 
ignorant  of  the  language,  travels  for  a few  months  in  a foreign  country. 
Herodotos  describes  the  Egypt  of  more  than  five  hundred  years  later  than 
the  period  with  which  we  are  now  concerned  ; and  what  is  true  of  his  time 
is  not  always  so  of  the  time  of  the  Ramessides,  and  still  less  so  of  that 
of  the  pyramid  age. 

Therefore  for  the  solution  of  our  problem  we  turn  to  the  monuments 
alone,  and  at  first  sight  these  seem  to  be  quite  inexhaustible.  The 
translations  of  inscriptions  and  papyri,  which  have  been  already  published, 
would  fill  folios  ; a great  number  of  Egyptian  texts  are  waiting  to  be 
deciphered  both  in  Egypt  and  in  our  museums  ; while  no  one  can  say  how 
much  still  lies  hidden  under  Egyptian  soil,  for  as  yet  few  of  the  old  cities 


INTRODUCTION 


5 


and  cemeteries  have  been  thoroughly  excavated.  We  must  also  add  the 
immense  number  of  pictured  representations  covering  the  walls  and  pillars 
of  the  gigantic  temples  and  of  the  tombs.  Yet  when  we  come  to  sift  our 
materials  much  has  to  be  put  aside  as  useless.  The  great  towns  and  the 
palaces  of  the  kings  were  built  of  wood  and  unburnt  brick  ; and  in  the 
mounds  where  they  formerly  stood  we  can  find  little  to  tell  us  of  the  life 
of  their  inhabitants. 

The  temples  with  their  inscriptions  and  wall  pictures  are  still  standing, 
but  these  inscriptions  and  representations  refer  almost  solely  to  the 
worship  of  the  gods,  to  sacrifices  and  processions,  or  they  give  us  bombastic 
hymns  to  the  gods,  or  they  may  perhaps  contain  the  information  that 
such  and  such  a king  built  this  sanctuary  of  eternal  stones  for  his  father 
the  god,  who  rewarded  him  for  this  pious  act  by  granting  him  a life  of 
millions  of  years.  If,  as  an  exception,  we  find  an  inscription  telling  us  of 
the  warlike  feats  of  a ruler,  these  are  related  in  such  official  style  and 
stereotyped  formulae,  that  little  can  be  gained  towards  the  knowledge  of 
Egyptian  life. 

The  tombs  are  much  more  satisfactory,  for  though  unfortunately 
even  in  them  religious  inscriptions  and  religious  pictures  outweigh  all 
else,  yet  most  of  the  tombs  of  the  oldest  period  show  us  scenes  of  the 
home  life  of  the  deceased,  or  tell  us  of  his  deeds  and  of  the  honours  he 
won.  Besides  which,  the  tombs  contain  objects  of  all  kinds,  which  the 
deceased  used  in  his  official  or  home  life,  and  which  were  intended  to  serve 
him  also  in  the  under-world — weapons,  articles  of  adornment,  a draught- 
board, or  perhaps  letters  from  his  relatives,  or  an  important  legal  document. 
Yet  these  tombs  and  their  contents,  important  as  they  are,  do  not  give 
us  an  unbiassed  nor  a complete  picture  of  Egyptian  life.  The  deceased 
sees  fit  to  relate  the  bright  points  of  his  biography,  his  promotion  in  office, 
his  rewards  from  the  king,  etc.,  but  how  he  was  brought  up,  how  he  lived  at 
home — in  fact  all  his  private  circumstances,  he  passes  over  as  uninteresting 
for  posterity.  Neither  must  we  trust  too  implicitly  to  all  that  we  find 
in  the  tombs,  for  in  order  to  give  us  a high  idea  of  the  riches  and  virtues 
of  the  deceased,  the  pictures  and  inscriptions  may  not  only  be  exagger- 
ated and  brightly  coloured,  but  also  in  many  cases  they  have  been  simply 
copied  from  older  tombs  and  therefore  do  not  answer  to  the  truth.  The 
objects  also  found  in  these  tombs  were  often  kept  ready-made  for  the 
purpose,  and  may  not  exactly  resemble  those  used  by  the  deceased  in  his 
lifetime. 

As  to  the  papyri,  the  greater  number  are  of  no  use  for  our  purpose, 
as  their  contents  are  purely  magical  or  religious.  The  secular  ones  are 
chiefly  school  books,  and  are  intended  to  incite  youthful  students  to  virtue 
and  knowledge.  In  these  papyri  the  happiness  of  the  learned  profession 
is  so  obviously  glorified  to  the  prejudice  of  all  others  that  implicit  faith 
cannot  be  placed  in  them.  The  romances  are  also  not  to  be  relied  upon  ; 
the  country  which  they  describe  is  not  Egypt  but  fairyland. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  a great  number  of  private  business  letters, 


6 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


inventories,  note- books,  and  legal  documents,  which  are  of  the  greatest 
importance  in  the  study  of  the  Egyptian  nation.  In  them  we  see  the 
people  as  they  really  were,  with  all  their  weak  points,  and  without  the 
pomp  and  ceremony  which  surround  the  life  depicted  for  us  on  the 
monuments.  Unfortunately  these  are  exceptionally  difficult  to  read — in 
fact,  with  their  incomprehensible  puns  on  the  events  of  private  daily  life, 
and  their  strange  expressions,  it  is  doubtful  whether  they  can  ever  be 
completely  deciphered. 

Thus  our  sources  of  information,  which  seem  at  first  sight  so  rich, 
become  gradually  reduced  in  number,  and  those  that  are  left  to  us  are  very 
one-sided,  often  representing  or  relating  the  same  thing  over  and  over 
again,  eg.  the  feeding  or  care  of  cattle  is  depicted  a hundred  times  more 
frequently  than  weaving  or  the  making  of  pottery  ; probably  many 
industries  and  customs  were  considered  too  unimportant  to  be  represented 
at  all.  We  must  not  deny  to  the  Egyptians  the  possession  of  some  object 
merely  because  we  can  find  no  representation  of  it  on  the  monuments. 

One  other  point  must  be  added  which  tends  to  render  our  task  of 
describing  the  civilisation  of  ancient  Egypt  more  difficult.  The  tombs 
which  depict  the  agriculture,  farming,  and  different  industries  belong  mostly 
to  the  period  of  the  “ Old  Empire  the  papyri,  which  teach  us  the  customs 
of  social  and  political  life,  are  nearly  all  of  the  later  time  of  the  “ New 
Empire.”  Therefore  we  know,  for  instance,  exactly  how  boats  were  built, 
furniture  was  made,  birds  were  snared,  three  thousand  years  before  our  era  ; 
but  whether  the  workmen  were  free  labourers  or  vassals  we  know  not.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  papyri  of  the  thirteenth  and  twelfth  centuries  teach  us 
the  social  position  of  many  artisans  and  workmen,  but  how  they  followed 
their  various  callings  we  can  rarely  tell.  In  order  to  draw  a picture  of 
life  in  Egypt  during  any  one  period,  our  imagination  must  aid  in  filling  in 
the  details  of  one  or  another  portion  of  it,  as  it  is  never  complete  in  itself. 

There  is  no  prospect  that  this  state  of  things  will  ever  be  altered  ; we 
have  therefore  endeavoured  in  the  following  pages  to  give  a sketch  of  the 
manners  and  customs  of  ancient  Egypt  : more  than  a sketch  is  impossible 
at  the  present  time,  and  even  in  the  future  we  can  scarcely  hope  to  fill  in 
all  the  particulars. 


s', 

SigntsrmassiM^^'^siiirrr:ifl*^s5TBS?f 


HIEROGLYPHIC  PORTION  OF  THE  ROSF.TTA  STONE. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  LAND  OF  EGYPT 

The  Nile  receives  its  last  great  tributary,  the  Blue  Nile,  near  Khartum, 
in  about  the  1 7th  degree  of  north  latitude.  Above  the  town  the  river 
flows  quietly  through  grassy  plains  ; below,  the  stream  changes  its  peace- 
ful character,  as  it  makes  its  way  through  the  great  table-land  of  the  north 
of  Africa,  and  in  an  immense  bend  of  over  950  miles  forces  a passage 
through  the  Nubian  sandstone.  In  some  places  where  the  harder  stone 
emerges  through  the  sandstone,  the  river,  even  after  thousands  of  years, 
has  not  succeeded  in  completely  breaking  through  the  barrier,  and  the 
water  finds  its  way  in  rapids  between  the  hard  rocks. 

There  are  ten  of  these  so-called  cataracts,  and  they  play  an  important 
and  sometimes  an  unhappy  part  in  the  development  of  Egypt  and  the 
Sudan.  It  is  owing  to  them  that  intercourse  by  boats  is  rendered  almost 
impossible  between  the  Upper  and  Lower  Nile  except  during  high  Nile, 
and  even  then  there  is  risk  of  accidents  happening  to  larger  boats  passing 
through  these  rapids.  The  last  of  these  cataracts  is  7 miles  long,  and 
forms  the  natural  boundary  of  Egypt  proper  ; close  to  it  is  situated  the 
town  of  Assuan,  the  old  Syene. 

Below  Assuan  the  character  of  the  country  again  changes,  and  the 
valley,  which  in  Nubia  never  exceeded  5 to  9 miles  in  width,  broadens  out, 
its  greatest  extent  being,  in  one  place,  as  much  as  33  miles  from  side  to 
side.  The  reason  of  this  change  is  that  at  Gebel  Silsileh,  some  way 
below  Assuan,  the  sandstone  (found  throughout  Nubia)  gives  way  to  lime- 


8 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAr. 


stone,  which  forms  cliffs  bounding  the  river  for  nearly  475  miles.  When 
the  Nile  reaches  the  Delta  the  limestone  again  gives  place  to  later  geolo- 
gical formations. 

Thus  Egypt  in  its  entire  length  is  framed  in  rocky  walls,  which  some- 
times reach  a height  of  600  to  800  feet  ; they  form  the  stereotyped 
horizon  of  all  landscape  views  in  this  country.  These  limestone  hills  are 
not  mountains  in  our  sense  of  the  word.  Instead  of  rising  to  peaks, 
they  form  the  edge  of  a large  table- land  with  higher  plateaus  here 
and  there.  This  table -land  is  entirely  without  water,  and  is  covered 
with  the  sand  of  the  desert,  which  is  continually  trying  to  trickle  down 
into  the  Nile,  by  channels  grooved  in  the  steep  monotonous  wall.  On 


THE  SACRED  ISLAND  OF  philae  (after  Langl). 

the  west  this  barren  plateau  joins  the  shifting  sand-dunes  of  the  Sahara, 
which  have  never  been  thoroughly  explored.  About  95  miles  from 
the  river,  and  running  parallel  with  it,  are  some  remarkable  dips  in  this 
table-land.  These  “ oases  ” are  well  watered  and  very  fruitful,  but  with 
these  exceptions  there  is  no  vegetation  in  this  desolate  waste,  which 
from  old  times  has  been  called  the  Libyan  desert.  To  the  east  of  the 
Nile  is  a similar  limestone  plateau  called  the  Arabian  desert.  Further 
inland  it  changes  into  a high  mountainous  country  with  bold  peaks  of 
granite,  porphyry,  gneiss,  and  other  crystalline  rocks  rising  sometimes  to  the 
height  of  6000  feet.  This  magnificent  range  of  mountains  stretches  along 
the  Red  Sea,  and  though  very  barren  owing  to  the  lack  of  rain,  yet  the 
country  presents  a more  cheerful  aspect  than  the  Libyan  desert.  Springs 
of  water  are  rare,  but  a dampness  arises  from  the  proximity  of  the  sea,  so 
that  hardy  desert  plants  grow  everywhere,  and  in  many  places  small  oases 
are  found  which  provide  food  for  the  wild  animals  and  for  the  cattle  of 


THE  FIRST  CATARACT,  BETWEEN  ASSUAN  AND  PHILAE,  THE  BOUNDARY  OF  EGYPT  AND  NUBIA. 

(After  L.  Libay.)  [To  face  page  8. 


I 


THE  LAND  OF  EGYPT 


9 


the  nomadic  tribes.  The  heat,  however,  and  the  want  of  water,  make 
it  most  difficult  to  live  in  these  mountains  on  the  east  of  the  Nile,  and 
we  cannot  help  admiring  the  courage  and  perseverance  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians,  who  maintained  hundreds  of  labourers  working  the  large 
stone-pits  and  quarries  in  this  vast  rocky  waste. 

To  return  to  the  Nile  valley  : — had  the  river  merely  forced  its  way 
through  the  Nubian  sandstone  and  the  Egyptian  limestone,  the  valley 
could  never  have  attained  its  wonderful  fertility  under  the  rainless  glowing 
sky  of  Egypt,  where  decomposition  of  all  vegetation  is  so  rapid.  But  the 
Nile  is  not  solely  the  outflow  of  the  great  lakes  of  tropical  Africa  ; it  also 
receives  from  the  west  all  the  waterflow  from  the  high  mountains  of 
Abyssinia  ; and  the  mountain  torrents,  laden  with  rocky  debris,  dash  down 
the  sides  of  the  hills  in  the  rainy  season,  and  form  the  two  great  streams 
of  the  Blue  Nile  and  the  Atbara  which  flow  into  the  Nile  near  Khartum 
and  Berber.  Thus  in  the  middle  of  the  summer  the  river  gradually  rises 
so  high  that  the  banks  can  no  longer  contain  the  vast  quantity  of  water 
and  mud.  The  river  overflows  slowly,  and  after  some  months  slowly 
retreats  again  into  its  bed.  While  the  water  of  the  inundation  covers  the 
valley  the  mud  in  the  water  is  of  course  deposited,  and  when  the  stream 
has  retreated,  the  country  is  left  covered  with  a thin  coating  of  this  mud 
composed  of  the  finest  stone  dust  from  the  Abyssinian  mountains  ; it  is 
this  black  Nile  mud  which  has  caused,  and  which  renews  each  year,  the 
fertility  of  Egypt.  It  now  forms  the  soil  of  Egypt  ; and  from  Khartum 
to  the  sea  the  deposit  of  mud  in  the  valley  has  reached  the  height  of  30 
feet,  and  in  this  mud  the  Nile  has  hollowed  its  present  bed. 

In  another  respect  also  the  Nile  is  the  life-blood  of  Egypt  ; it  provides 
water  for  the  country,  for,  as  in  the  neighbouring  deserts,  there  is  no  rain- 
fall. On  the  coast  of  the  Delta  and  for  some  miles  southwards  rain  falls 
in  the  same  way  as  in  the  other  coast  lands  of  the  Mediterranean  ; but, 
with  the  exception  of  rare  storms,  this  is  never  the  case  in  Upper  Egypt. 
There  are  also  no  springs  nor  brooks,  so  that  for  water  the  country  depends 
entirely  on  the  great  river  from  the  far  south. 

The  climate  of  Egypt  is  more  uniform  than  that  of  other  Mediter- 
ranean countries,  owing  to  the  absence  of  the  rainy  season,  which  corre- 
sponds to  our  winter.  From  December  to  March  the  air  is  cool,  and 
at  night  sometimes  the  temperature  may  almost  go  down  to  freezing 
point,  but  during  eight  months  of  the  year  it  is  very  hot,  and  in  July 
the  thermometer  rises  to  1 io°  Fahr.  in  the  shade.  Several  causes  com- 
bine to  produce  this  difference  of  temperature.  The  hot  south-east  wind 
blows  only  from  the  middle  of  February  to  the  middle  of  June,  but  this 
wind  often  rises  to  a hurricane,  filling  the  air  and  covering  the  plants  with 
dust  ; during  the  rest  of  the  year  even  in  the  hottest  season  the  north- 
west wind  mitigates  the  intense  heat  of  the  day  ; the  ancient  Egyptians 
thought  it  one  of  the  best  things  in  life  to  “ breathe  its  sweet  breath.”  1 
The  inundation  has  still  more  effect  on  the  climate  than  the  wind.  The 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  1141,  and  many  other  instances. 


IO 


LIFE  IN  A ANIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


stream  begins  to  rise  in  the  beginning  of  June  ; it  becomes  a mighty  torrent 
by  the  end  of  July  ; from  the  end  of  September  to  the  end  of  October 
the  water  reaches  its  highest  level,  after  which  time  it  retreats  more  and 
more  rapidly.  In  January  the  stream  is  back  once  more  in  its  old  bed, 
but  it  goes  on  subsiding  till  the  summer.  This  inundation,  which  we 
must  not  imagine  to  overflow  the  whole  country,  spreads  abroad  coolness, 
dampness,  and  fertility  ; the  country  revives  from  the  oppression  of  the 
summer  heat,  and  we  easily  understand  why  the  old  Egyptians  should  fix 
their  New  Year’s  Day  on  the  I 5 th  of  September,  the  time  of  highest  Nile. 


DATE  PALMS  AND  DOM  palms  (del.  by  Stieler). 


The  days  of  inundation  were,  however,  days  of  anxiety  and  care.  The 
fate  of  the  whole  country  hung  in  the  balance,  for  if  the  water  rose 
insufficiently  but  one -tenth  part,  the  canals  carrying  the  water  to  the 
higher  level  did  not  fill,  and  the  result  was  the  failure  of  the  crops  and 
famine.  Again,  if  the  inundation  rose  even  slightly  too  high,  sad  devasta- 
tion ensued  ; embankments  and  dykes  were  thrown  down,  and  freshly 
cultivated  fields,  supposed  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  the  water,  were 
covered  by  the  inundation.  From  the  earliest  times  therefore,  the  rise  of 
the  Nile  was  closely  watched  and  controlled  by  government  officials,  who 
regulated  the  yearly  taxes  by  the  result  of  the  inundation.  Nilometers 
were  also  constructed, — these  were  wells  in  which  the  height  of  the  water 


I 


THE  LAND  OF  EGYPT 


was  marked  as  in  a measure  or  water-gauge  ; they  were  under  the  special 
protection  of  the  State.  In  old  times  as  now,  the  height  of  the  inundation 
was  officially  notified  ; and  then  also,  as  at  the  present  day,  suspicions  were 
often  aroused  that  the  official  statement  was  exaggerated.  An  old  Nilo- 
meter  still  exists  on  the  island  of  Elephantine,  on  the  southern  frontier  of 
Egypt.  In  Greek  times  the  height  of  a good  inundation  at  Memphis  was 
said  to  be  16  ells,  and  in  the  beautiful  statue  of  the  Nile  in  the  Vatican  the 
boy  who  represents  the  16th  ell  looks  down  with  great  content  from  the 
cornucopia,  up  which  he  has  clambered.  This  genius  of  the  1 6th  ell  is 
also  to  be  seen  on  a coin  of  Alexandria,  presenting  his  cornucopia  to  his 


SYCAMORES — A FEW  PAPYRUS  REEDS  IN  THE  FOREGROUND  (del.  by  Stieler). 

father  Nile.  At  the  present  day,  on  account  of  the  ground  level  of  Egypt 
having  been  raised  by  the  mud  deposit,  a yet  higher  inundation  is  needed 
to  ensure  a good  harvest  to  the  country. 

From  the  fertility  of  the  Egyptian  soil  we  might  expect  a specially 
rich  flora,  but  notwithstanding  the  luxuriant  vegetation,  no  country  in  the 
same  latitude  has  so  poor  a variety  of  plants.  There  are  very  few  trees. 
The  sycamore  or  wild  fig  and  the  acacia  are  the  only  common  forest  trees, 
and  these  grow  in  an  isolated  fashion  somewhat  as  the  lime  or  chestnut 
tree  grows  with  us.  Besides  these  there  are  fruit  trees,  such  as  the  date 
and  dom  palms,  the  fig  tree,  and  others.  • The  scarcity  of  wood  is  quite  a 
calamity  for  Egypt.  It  is  the  same  with  plants  ; herbs  and  vegetables 
reign  in  this  land  of  cultivation,  and  wild  flowers  are  scarcely  to  be  found. 


12 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Klunzinger,  who  knows  Egypt  most  thoroughly,  says  : “ In  this  country, 
wherever  a spot  exists  where  wild  plants  could  grow  (i.e.  irrigated  ground), 
the  agriculturist  comes,  sows  his  seed  and  weeds  out  the  wild  flowers. 
There  are  also  no  alpine  nor  forest  plants,  no  heather,  no  plants 
common  to  ruins,  bogs,  or  lakes,  partly  because  there  are  no  such  places 
in  Egypt,  partly  also  for  want  of  water  and  shade.  The  ploughed  and 
the  fallow  land,  the  banks  and  hedges,  the  river  and  the  bed  of  the  inun- 
dation canals  alone  remain.  Here  a certain  number  of  plants  are  found, 
but  they  are  isolated,  they  never  cover  a plot  of  ground,  even  the  grasses, 
of  which  there  are  a good  many  varieties,  never  form  a green  sward  ; there 
are  no  meadows  such  as  charm  the  eye  in  other  countries,  though  the 
clover  fields  which  serve  for  pasture,  and  the  cornfields  as  long  as  they 
are  green,  compensate  to  some  extent.”  Even  the  streams,  the  numerous 
watercourses  and  canals,  are  poorer  in  vegetation  than  one  would  expect 
under  this  southern  sky. 

The  present  aspect  of  Egypt  is  pleasant  though  monotonous  ; the 
gleaming  water  of  the  broad  river  flows  peacefully  through  the  green  fields, 
and  the  Delta  also,  intersected  by  numerous  canals,  looks  very  much  like  a 
rich  well-cultivated  European  plain.  We  scarcely  realise  that  we  are  on 
African  soil,  and  on  the  banks  of  a river  flowing  from  the  heart  of  the 
tropics.  In  prehistoric  times,  however,  the  aspect  of  Egypt  was  doubtless 
very  different,  and  probably  resembled  that  of  the  present  valley  of  the  Nile 
in  the  interior  of  Africa.1 2  The  banks  were  covered  by  primaeval  forests, 
the  river  changed  its  bed  from  time  to  time,  leaving  behind  stagnant 
branches  ; the  surface  of  the  water  was  covered  with  luxuriant  weeds,  the 
gigantic  papyrus  rushes  made  an  impenetrable  undergrowth,  until  the 
stream  broke  through  them  and  carried  them  as  a floating  island  to 
another  spot.  These  swamps  and  forests,  inhabited  by  the  crocodile, 
buffalo,  and  hippopotamus,  have  been  changed  into  peaceful  fields,  not  so 
much  by  an  alteration  in  the  climate,  as  by  the  hand  of  man  working  for 
thousands  of  years.  The  land  has  been  cleared  by  the  inhabitants,  each 
foot  has  been  won  with  difficulty  from  the  swamp,  until  at  last  the  wild 
plants  and  the  mighty  animals  which  possessed  the  country  have  been  com- 
pletely exterminated.  The  hippopotamus  is  not  to  be  seen  south  of  Nubia, 
and  the  papyrus  reeds  are  first  met  with  in  the  9th  degree  of  latitude. 

In  the  first  historical  period,  3000-2500  B.C.,  this  clearing  of  the  land 
had  been  in  part  accomplished.  The  forests  had  long  ago  disappeared, 
and  the  acacias  of  Nubia  had  to  furnish  the  wood  for  boat-building  ;J  the 
papyrus,  however,  was  still  abundant.  The  “ backwaters,”  in  which  these 
rushes  grew,  were  the  favourite  tesorts  for  sport,  and  the  reed  itself  was 
used  in  all  kinds  of  useful  ways.  The  same  state  of  things  existed  in  the 
time  of  Herodotos.  In  the  time  of  which  we  shall  treat,  Egypt  was  not 
so  over-cultivated  as  now,  though  the  buildings  were  no  less  extensive. 

1 See  Ueber  den  afrikanischen  Urspruug  aegyptischer  Kulturpjlansen ,iby  Schweinfurth,  translated 
by  Thiselton  Dyer. 

2 Inscription  of  Une’  (A.  Z.,  1882,  25). 


SIUT  DURING  THE  INUNDATION. 

(After  L.  D.,  I.  62.)  [To  face  page  12. 


I 


THE  LAND  OF  EGYPT 


*3 


The  climate  of  Egypt  would  seem  to  make  life  easy  to  mankind,  the 
weather  provides  him  with  no  grievance,  the  fields  bear  rich  crops  through- 
out the  year,  the  cattle  are  never  in  want  of  pasture,  the  river  is  stocked  with 
fish  in  abundance.  We  should  therefore  expect  to  find  a people  spending 
their  lives  cheerfully  and  brightly,  somewhat  after  the  fashion  of  the 
Homeric  heroes.  Yet  the  Egyptian  labourer,  both  of  the  present  and  of 
the  past,  has  always  been  a creature  with  little  pleasure  in  his  life,  who  does 
his  work  in  a serious  and  indeed  listless  way,  rather  like  his  ox  or  his  ass. 
The  Egyptian  nation  has  not  the  light-heartedness  of  the  Greek,  though 
the  sky  of  Egypt  smiles  more  brightly  than  that  of  Hellas.  There  is  good 
reason  for  this  difference  of  character.  However  easy  the  life  of  the 
Egyptian  labourer  may  appear,  it  is  really  a hard  one,  and  each  day  has 
its  toil.  He  must  never  neglect  his  field,  he  must  ever  work  hard — 
above  all,  before  and  during  the  time  of  inundation.  The  general  opinion 
that  the  Nile  overflows  to  right  and  left,  making  the  country  like  a lake, 
in  which  the  mounds  of  villages  appear  like  islands,  is  not  the  truth,  at 
least  not  in  the  case  of  the  inundation  of  average  height.  Earnest  work 
is  needed  to  regulate  the  irrigation  of  the  fields.  The  water  is  drawn 
off  first  into  large  canals,  and  thence  into  small  trenches,  in  order  to 
obtain  the  full  benefit  of  the  inundation.  Dams  are  constructed  to 
divide  the  land  to  be  flooded  into  large  or  small  parts,  these  are  opened 
to  the  water  at  the  right  time,  and  the  water  is  retained  at  will,  or 
allowed  to  flow  back  into  the  canals  by  means  of  sluices.  Some  fields, 
completely  out  of  the  reach  of  the  inundation,  have  to  be  irrigated  entirely 
by  means  of  hydraulic  works. 

All  this  labour,  which  falls  now  to  the  lot  of  the  modern  fellah,  had 
also  to  be  done  in  the  old  time,  and  doubtless  must  have  been  a heavy 
burden  to  the  Egyptian  people.  The  making  of  the  canals,  dykes,  and 
sluices  taxed  the  ingenuity  of  the  nation,  and  accustomed  the  people  to 
systematic  work.  As  this  system  could  only  be  carried  out  by  large 
bodies  of  men,  it  was  impossible  that  the  old  inhabitants  of  the  Nile 
valley  should  consist  of  free  peasants  like  those  of  Germany  in  the  old 
time.  The  hard  logic  of  facts  teaches  us  that  an  autocratic  government 
is  always  necessary  in  order  to  control  and  regulate  irrigation.  In  fact, 
the  earliest  knowledge  we  have  of  the  conditions  of  life  in  Egypt  shows 
us  a strict  administration  of  political  and  agrarian  relations  ; a state  in 
which  the  individual  was  of  little  account,  but  in  which  much  help  was 
given  by  the  government  in  the  establishment  of  works  for  the  public 
good,  and  in  the  superintendence  of  practical  details. 

The  Greeks  may  have  enjoyed  a richer  and  more  happy  civilisation 
than  the  Egyptians,  but  the  practical  work  of  the  latter  people  stands 
higher  than  that  of  the  former.  In  making  comparisons  between  the 
youthful  joyous  art  of  Greece  and  the  severe  sober  art  of  Egypt  we  must 
remember  that  the  latter  sprang  to  life  on  the  sad  soil  of  the  Nile  valley, 
where  hard  work  is  required  of  every  one.  We  must  also,  if  we  would 
avoid  being  unjust  to  the  Egyptian  people,  make  allowance  for  one  other 


14 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


feature  of  their  life,  the  landscape  which  surrounded  them.  The  Greek, 
with  his  mountains,  round  which  the  sea  foamed  and  the  winds  blew,  with 
his  green  forests  and  his  flower-decked  meadows,  created  for  himself  the 
joyous  forms  of  the  youthful  gods  of  Olympus,  with  their  human  feelings 
and  sufferings.  The  horrors  and  the  grandeur  of  the  desert  influenced 
the  Semitic  nomads,  and  deepened  in  them  the  religious  feeling  which 
permeates  the  purest  form  of  religion.  The  landscape  of  Egypt  on  the 
contrary  was  monotonous  ; everywhere  the  fertile  green  fields  were  inter- 
sected by  numerous  watercourses,  here  and  there  grew  clumps  of  palms  ; 
and  ever  the  same  horizon,  the  wall  of  the  limestone  mountains,  bounded 
the  view. 

This  is  not  a landscape  calculated  to  awaken  the  inspiration  of  the 
soul  ; unconsciously  the  dweller  in  this  country  will  become  sober  and 
prosaic,  and  his  gods  will  be  pale  forms  with  whom  he  has  no  sympathy. 
In  fact,  the  Egyptian  peasant  could  scarcely  understand  a living  personal 
relationship  between  the  individual  and  the  deity.  If  fancy  were  here 
allowed  free  course,  the  spirits  and  ghosts  she  would  create  would  not 
resemble  such  forms  as  the  friendly  angel  leading  the  people  through 
the  wilderness,  nor  the  avenging  angel  stretching  his  hand  over  the  sinful 
town  to  strike  it  with  the  plague,  nor  the  ghost  of  the  night,  luring  the 
wanderer  to  his  destruction  ; but  they  would  be  frog-headed  fiends,  fiends 
with  heads  twisted  awry,  human -faced  birds,  snakes  with  four  legs, 
repulsive  childish  forms,  which  can  awaken  neither  pleasure  nor  fear. 

Thus  the  Egyptian  grew  up  under  conditions  unfavourable  to  the 
development  of  his  spiritual  life,  but  such  as  would  fortify  his  understanding 
and  practical  industry.  Foreign  influence  affected  him  little,  for  he  lived 
secluded  from  the  rest  of  mankind.  On  the  east  and  on  the  west  was 
the  desert,  on  the  north  were  the  swamps  of  the  Delta,  on  the  south  the 
rapids  of  the  Nile  and  the  narrow  passes  of  Nubia.  The  Beduins  of  the 
Syrian  desert  and  the  Libyans  of  the  eastern  Sahara  visited  Egypt,  and 
drove  their  flocks  into  the  Delta,  but  it  was  only  in  later  times  that  they 
gained  any  political  power  there,  and  the  predatory  incursions  of  early 
ages  were  much  like  those  of  the  present  day.  There  was  little  oppor- 
tunity for  friendly  intercourse  with  foreign  nations,  for  the  neighbouring 
countries  were  far  less  fertile  than  Egypt,  and  their  civilisation  developed 
much  later.  It  was  only  in  the  time  of  the  New  Empire  that  the  people 
of  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  and  Nubia  attained  a civilisation  at  all  resembling 
that  of  Egypt  ; before  that  time  they  were  barbarians  despised  by  the 
Egyptians  ; the  Chaldaeans,  whose  civilisation  was  as  old  and  at  the  same 
time  equalled  that  of  the  Nile  valley,  were  too  far  off. 

The  undisturbed  repose  in  which  life  in  Egypt  developed  was  in  many 
respects  happy  for  the  nation  ; yet  there  is  the  reverse  side  to  the  picture. 
The  Egyptians  were  the  least  warlike  of  all  the  nations  of  the  ancient 
East.  Their  contests  with  the  Beduins  can  scarcely  be  called  warfare,  and 
the  internal  struggles  were  always  of  a subordinate  character,  owing  to  the 
curious  long  form  of  the  country.  The  Egyptians  therefore  had  no  heroes 


I 


THE  LAND  OF  EGYPT 


15 


of  war  whom  they  could  celebrate  in  song  ; their  heroes,  like  those  of  the 
Chinese,  were  wise  kings  and  princes  of  old  time  ; they  never  experienced 
the  invigorating  influence  of  a great  national  war. 

Equally  unfortunate  was  the  fact  that  they  never  learnt  to  carry  on 
commerce  with  foreign  nations.  There  were  no  harbours  on  the  north  of 
the  Delta,  and  the  currents  off  the  coast  made  it  very  dangerous  for  ships, 
while  the  harbours  of  the  Red  Sea  could  only  be  reached  by  four  days  of 
desert  travelling.  The  cataracts  made  it  difficult  to  visit  the  countries  of 
the  Upper  Nile.  Thus  commerce  was  always  somewhat  strange  to  the 
Egyptians,  who  gladly  left  it  to  the  Phoenicians  ; and  the  “ Great  Green 
One,”  i.e.  the  ocean,  was  at  all  times  a horror  to  them.  Compared  with  the 
Phoenicians,  their  naval  expeditions  were  insignificant,  while  in  their  agri- 
culture, their  arts  and  manufactures,  they  rose  to  true  greatness. 

Egypt  played  such  an  important  part  in  the  history  of  the  world  that 
involuntarily  we  are  apt  to  consider  the  country  as  one  of  considerable 
size.  Yet  it  is  a small  state,  for  notwithstanding  its  length  of  570  miles, 
it  only  contains  about  12,500  square  miles,  and  is  therefore  somewhat 
smaller  than  Belgium.  Even  including  the  1000  miles  between  the  first 
cataract  and  Khartum,  this  would  only  increase  the  kingdom  of  Egypt 
by  about  1125  square  miles,  the  upper  valley  being  very  narrow.  It 
was  the  exceeding  fertility  of  the  country  which  made  Egypt  so  important. 
This  small  country  is  naturally  divided  into  two  very  different  parts.  The 
larger  division,  the  Delta,  is  a broad  swamp  intersected  with  canals,  the 
climate  is  influenced  by  the  sea,  and  there  is  a regular  rainy  season  in 
the  winter.  The  smaller  part,  the  Nile  valley,  is  as  a rule  without  rain, 
and  it  has  one  great  waterway,  the  stagnant  branches  and  canals  being 
scarcely  worth  consideration. 

This  is  the  present  aspect  of  the  country,  and  in  past  times  it  differed 
little,  except  that  both  divisions  were  more  swampy  than  now.  It  follows 
naturally  that  the  dry  climate  of  the  south  was  more  favourable  to  cultiva- 
tion than  the  swamps  of  the  north.  When  the  primaeval  forest  was  once 
cleared,  there  was  little  left  in  Upper  Egypt  to  interfere  with  the  tillage 
of  the  soil.  In  the  Delta,  on  the  contrary,  thousands  of  years  passed 
before  the  swamps  were  converted  into  arable  land.  This  work  is  not  yet 
completed,  and  indeed  many  parts  of  the  Delta  which  were  formerly  under 
cultivation  are  now  lost.  The  brackish  waters  of  Lake  Menzaleh  now 
cover  a surface  of  over  1000  square  miles,  but  in  old  times  part  of  this 
district  was  one  of  the  most  productive  in  the  country. 

Scholars  have  surmised  from  the  foregoing  facts  that  Upper  Egypt 
was  the  home  of  Egyptian  civilisation,  and  that  agriculture,  the  industrial 
crafts,  and  art  flourished  there  while  the  Delta  was  still  a forest  swamp, 
the  dwelling-place  only  of  the  hunter  and  the  shepherd.  Traces  are  not 
wanting  to  confirm  this  view.  Herodotos  (ii.  4)  tells  us  a legend  which 
he  heard  when  travelling  in  Egypt,  according  to  which  “ the  Theban 
nome  ” in  Upper  Egypt  was  alone  inhabited  in  the  time  of  Menes  the  first 
king.  All  the  rest  of  the  country  was  a swamp,  and  the  Delta  was  not 


i6 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


even  in  existence.  Though  this  can  scarcely  have  been  true  of  the  time 
of  Menes  (about  3200  B.C.),  yet  this  legend  contains  the  truth  that  Lower 
Egypt  remained  a land  of  swamps  far  later  than  was  the  case  with  Upper 
Egypt.  We  learn  the  same  from  the  fact  that  it  was  in  comparatively 
late  times  that  Lower  Egypt  played  an  important  part  in  the  history  of 
the  country. 

In  the  time  of  the  Old  Empire  (3000-2500  circa ) we  read  that  the 
flocks  of  the  rich  were  driven  at  times  into  the  Delta,  which  was  therefore 
considered  to  be  pasture  land  as  compared  with  the  corn  lands  of  Upper 
Egypt.  The  name  also  by  which  the  Delta  is  known,  “the  northern 
country,”  stamps  it  as  an  annexation  to  Egypt  proper,  which  at  Memphis 
was  called  “ the  south  ” without  the  addition  of  the  word  country. 
Upper  Egypt  was  also  always  put  first  before  the  larger  Delta  ; the  south 
was  said  to  be  in  front,  the  north  lay  behind.  From  these  facts  we  con- 
clude, that  in  the  time  of  the  Old  Empire  the  Delta  was  far  behind  the 
southern  part  of  the  country  in  civilisation.  The  civilisation  of  Lower 
Egypt  progressed  but  slowly.  We  find  traces  of  this  process  in  the  names 
of  the  towns,  many  of  which  were  named  after  some  of  the  old  famous 
places  in  Upper  Egypt,  e.g.  Thebes  and  Edfu.  Colonists  from  the  south 
carried  the  names  of  their  old  homes  to  their  new  settlements,  in  the  same 
way  as  our  colonists  have  done  in  America. 

Under  the  New  Empire  (about  I 300  B.C.)  much  progress  seems  to  have 
been  made  in  the  east  of  the  Delta,  which  rose  to  importance,  through  being 
the  highway  to  Syria  ; the  old  town  of  Tanis  became  the  capital,  and  other 
towns  were  founded  at  different  places.  The  west  of  the  Delta  was  in  a 
great  measure  in  the  hands  of  the  Libyan  nomads  till  the  seventh  century 
B.C.,  when  the  chief  town  Sais  became  the  seat  of  government  under  the 
family  of  Psammetichus,  and  after  the  foundation  of  Alexandria  this  new 
city  assumed  the  lead  for  a thousand  years.  Even  as  late  as  the  Middle 
Ages  the  “ Bushmur,”  a swampy  district,  was  scarcely  accessible  ; it  was 
inhabited  by  an  early  non-Egyptian  race,  with  whom  neither  the  Greek 
nor  the  Arab  rulers  had  much  to  do. 

Throughout  the  ages  of  antiquity  there  existed,  between  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt,  a certain  rivalry  which  probably  arose  in  the  time  when 
the  one  was  so  far  behind  the  other  in  civilisation.  In  old  times  also  they 
were  separated  politically  ; they  spoke  two  different  dialects  ; and  though 
they  honoured  several  identical  gods  under  different  names,  others  were 
peculiar  to  one  half  of  the  kingdom.  This  contrast  between  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt  was  emphasised  in  many  ways  by  the  people.  The  “ two 
countries  ” were  under  the  protection  of  different  goddesses  ; the  Delta 
under  that  of  the  snake  goddess  Uad’t,  while  Upper  Egypt  was  ruled 
by  the  snake  goddess  Nechebt.  In  mythical  ages  the  land  was  given 
to  different  gods  as  a possession  ; the  Delta  to  Set,  Upper  Egypt  to 
Horus. 

Different  plants  were  characteristic  of  each  part  of  the  country  : the 
papyrus  grew  thickly  in  the  Delta,  the  flowering  rush  in  Upper  Egypt  ; 


X 


THE  LAXD  OF  EGYPT 


1 7 


and  these  two  plants  were  used  for  armorial  bearings,  ^ a flowering 

rush  for  Upper  Egypt,  and  '/  a papyrus  plant  for  the  Lower  Country. 

The  flowers  of  these  two  plants  became  emblematic  of  the  north  and 
south,  and  in  decorative  representations  the  captives  of  the  north  were 
bound  with  a rope  ending  in  the  blossom  of  a papyrus,  those  of  the  south 
with  one  whose  end  was  formed  of  the  flowering  rush. 

I have  already  said  that  the  historical  importance  of  Egypt  was  owing 
to  its  fertility  ; the  dense  population  of  the  country  was  also  due  to  the  same 
cause.  The  population  is  now  somewhat  over  five  million  (exact  statistics 
are  not  to  be  obtained),  and  in  the  old  time  it  is  supposed  to  have  been 
higher.  Only  countries  as  highly  developed  as  Belgium  or  Saxony  are 
so  thickly  populated. 

We  should  expect  the  inhabitants,  when  so  closely  crowded  together, 
to  be  essentially  welded  into  one  nation,  but  the  length  of  Egypt  prevented 
this  result  ; the  inhabitants  of  one  district  had  neighbours  on  two  sides 
only,  and  the  people  of  the  Delta  had  a wearisome  journey  before  x'eaching 
Upper  Egypt.  Therefore  we  find  in  Egypt  the  development  of  individual 
townships,  reminding  us  strongly  of  early  conditions  of  life  in  Germany. 

Each  district  or  province  had  its  chief  god  and  its  own  traditions  ; the 
inhabitants  were  often  at  war  with  their  neighbours,  and  when  the  central 
government  was  weak,  the  kingdom  became  subdivided  into  small  princi- 
palities. 

The  districts  were  of  very  small  extent,  the  average  size  of  those  of 
Upper  Egypt  about  270  square  miles  ; those  of  the  Delta  were  rather 
larger,  yet  these  provinces  were  of  more  importance  than  their  size  would 
indicate,  as  the  population  of  each  would  probably  average  300,000  souls. 

Upper  Egypt  was  divided  in  old  times  into  about  twenty  provinces 
or  noines  as  they  were  called  by  the  Greeks  ; the  division  of  the  Delta 
into  the  same  number  is  an  artificial  one  of  later  date,  as  is  proved  by 
there  being  the  same  number  for  a country  a quarter  as  large  again.  The 
official  list  of  these  provinces  varied  at  different  times,  sometimes  the  same 
tract  of  land  is  represented  as  an  independent  province,  and  sometimes  as 
a subdivision  of  that  next  to  it.  The  provinces  were  government  districts, 
and  these  might  change  either  with  a change  of  government  or  for  political 
reasons,  but  the  basis  of  this  division  of  the  country  was  always  the  same, 
and  was  part  of  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the  nation.  The  names  of  the 
nomes  are  very  various — some  are  such  as  would  naturally  occur  to  the 
mind  of  a primitive  people  ; thus  in  Upper  Egypt  we  find  : the  province 
of  the  “ hare,”  of  the  “ gazelle,”  two  of  the  “ sycamore,”  two  of  the  “ palm,” 
one  of  the  “ knife,”  whilst  the  most  southern  portion  was  called  simply 
the  “ land  in  front.”  In  the  Delta  (the  home  of  cattle-breeding)  we  find 
the  province  of  the  “ black  ox,”  of  the  “ calf,”  etc.  Other  names  were 
derived  from  the  religion  ; thus  the  second  nome  of  Upper  Egypt  was 
called  “ the  seat  of  Horus,”  the  sixth  “ his  mountain,”  and  the  twelfth  in 
the  Delta  was  named  after  the  god  Thoth. 

C 


i8 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP.  I 


Each  province  possessed  its  coat-of-arms,  derived  either  from  its  name 
or  its  religious  myths  ; this  was  borne  on  a pole  before  the  chieftain  on 


solemn  occasions.  The  shield  of  the  hare  province  explains  itself  ttj  ; 

A 


that  of  the  eighth  nome  was 


, the  little  chest  in  which  the  head  of 


Osiris,  the  sacred  relic  of  the  district,  was  kept.  The  twelfth  province 


had  for  a coat-of-arms  signs  which  signity  “ his  mountain  ” ; and 

many  others  might  be  quoted. 

In  the  following  pages  I intend  to  give  a short  account  of  the  most 
important  places  of  ancient  Egypt,  not  as  a complete  sketch  of  the 
geography  of  the  country,  but  in  order  to  help  the  reader  to  recognise 
the  position  of  those  places  which  most  frequently  occur  in  this  work. 
(See  the  accompanying  map.) 

The  natural  boundary  of  Egypt  on  the  south  was  always  the  so-called 
first  cataract,  those  rapids  7 miles  long,  in  the  24th  degree  of  latitude, 
where  the  Nile  breaks  through  the  mighty  granite  barrier.  The  district 
of  the  cataract  was  inhabited  in  old  times  as  at  present  by  Nubians,  a 
non-Egyptian  race,  and  the  sacred  island  of  Philae  at  the  southern  end 
of  the  cataract,  where  the  later  Egyptians  revered  one  of  the  graves  of 
Osiris,  is  in  fact  Nubian  soil.  These  rapids  were  of  the  highest  importance 
for  strategic  purposes,  and  the  early  Egyptians  strongly  fortified  the  town 
of  Syene  on  the  east  bank  so  as  to  be  able  to  blockade  the  way  into 
Egypt  by  land,  as  well  as  to  protect  the  quarries  where  from  the  earliest 
ages  they  obtained  all  their  splendid  red  granite  for  obelisks  and  other 
monuments.  The  buildings  in  Egypt  occupied  so  much  of  the  attention 
of  the  state  that  immense  importance  was  attached  to  the  unobstructed 
working  of  these  quarries. 

The  capital  of  this  first  province  of  Egypt  was  not  Syene,  but  the 
neighbouring  town  of  ’Abu,  which  name  signifies  “ ivory  town  ” (Greek 
Elephantine).  To  the  island  on  which  this  town  was  situated  the 
Nubians  of  old  brought  the  ivory  obtained  in  their  elephant- hunts,  in 
order  to  exchange  it  for  the  products  of  Egypt.  Even  in  Roman  times 
this  town  was  important  for  commerce,  as  the  place  where  the  custom 
duties  were  paid. 

Twenty-eight  miles  farther  to  the  north  on  the  east  bank  was  the 
town  of  Nubit  (Ombos),  where  stood  the  sanctuary  of  the  crocodile  god 
Subk,  and  14  miles  beyond  lay  Chenu,  the  old  Silsilis,  the  modern  Silsileh, 
at  the  point  where  the  sandstone  hills  narrow  the  bed  of  the  river  before 
giving  place  to  the  limestone.  Like  Syene,  Silsilis  was  important  because 
of  the  great  quarries  close  to  the  town.  Silsilis  was  the  easiest  point 
from  Memphis  or  Thebes,  where  hard  stone  was  to  be  obtained  ; and  here 
were  quarried  those  gigantic  blocks  of  sandstone  which  we  still  admire  in 
the  ruins  of  the  Egyptian  temples. 

Whilst  the  “ land  in  front,”  or  the  first  province,  owed  its  importance 


28 


29 


33 


20 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


to  the  quarries  and  to  trade,  that  of  the  second  province,  called  “ the 
exaltation  of  Horus,”  was,  as  the  name  signifies,  purely  religious.  Horus, 
in  the  form  of  the  winged  disk,  here  obtained  his  first  victory  over  Set, 
and  here  therefore  was  built  the  chief  sanctuary  of  this  god.  The  present 
temple  of  Edfu  is  still  dedicated  to  him  ; it  is  in  good  preservation  and 
stands  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  Debhot,  but  a building  of  Ptolemaic  time 
has  taken  the  place  of  the  sanctuary  erected  by  the  old  kings. 

In  the  third  nome,  the  shield  of  which  bore  the  head-dress  of  the  ram- 

headed  god  Chnum,  three  towns  are  worthy  of  mention  : first, 

the  old  ' Enit  (Esneh),  the  religious  centre,  where,  as  at  Pldfu,  a late  temple 
occupies  the  site  of  the  old  building  ; secondly,  the  town  of  Nechebt 
(El  Kab)  ; few  towns  have  played  such  a leading  part  in  Egypt  as  this 
great  fortress,  the  governors  of  which  during  their  time  of  office  were  equal 
in  rank  with  the  princes  of  the  blood.  El  Kab  was  also  important  for  the 
worship  of  the  patron  goddess  of  the  south,  Nechebt,  sometimes  repre- 
sented as  a vulture,  sometimes  as  a snake.  Numerous  inscriptions  by 
pilgrims  testify  to  the  honour  in  which  this  goddess  was  held  in  old  times, 
and  even  the  Greeks  resorted  to  El  Kab  in  order  to  pray  to  “ Eileithyia.” 

Thirdly,  on  the  northern  border 
of  the  nome,  on  the  west  bank, 
lay  the  very  ancient  town  of 
On,  distinguished  from  other 
places  of  the  same  name,  as 
“ On  of  the  god  Mont.”  On 
suffered  the  same  fate  as  many 
other  towns  in  all  countries. 
Owing  to  political  circumstances, 
the  neighbouring  town  of  Thebes 
rose  from  a country  town  to  be 
the  “ town  of  the  Hundred  Gates,”  the  capital  of  the  whole-  kingdom. 
On  then  lost  all  her  power,  and  it  was  only  when,  after  a thousand 
years  of  splendour,  Thebes  fell  into  decay,  that  On  of  Mont  rose  again  to 
importance  as  the  Hermonthis  of  the  Greeks.  Erment  is  now  a flourish- 
ing town,  while  the  site  of  her  great  rival  is  occupied  only  by  villages. 

We  now  come  to  that  town  whose  ruins  form  the  greatest  of  all  the 
wonders  of  Egypt,  and  whose  buildings  seem  to  have  been  erected  by  a 
race  of  giants.  Thebes  cannot  boast  of  the  age  of  Memphis,  nor  of  the 
sacred  character  of  Abydos  or  Heliopolis,  but  she  had  the  good  fortune  to 
be  the  capital  of  the  country  during  those  centuries  when  Egypt  was  a 
mighty  power  in  the  world.  Therefore  she  herself  became  the  ruler  of 
the  world,  the  Rome  of  the  ancient  east,  of  which  the  Hebrew  prophet 
cried  in  astonishment:1  “Ethiopia  and  Egypt  were  her  strength,  and  it 
was  infinite  ; Put  and  Lubim  (Arabia  and  Libya)  were  thy  helpers.”  The 
political  power  of  Thebes  was  also  shown  by  the  buildings  of  the  town, 

1 Nahum  iii.  9. 


I 


THE  LAND  OF  EGYPT 


21 


which  surpassed  in  magnificence  all  those  of  ancient  or  modern  capitals. 
Thebes  attained  this  splendour  at  a comparatively  late  date,  being  at  first 
only  an  obscure  provincial  town  devoted  to  the  worship  of  Amon  ; neither 
the  town  nor  the  god  is  mentioned  in  the  older  sacred  books.  About 
2 000  B.C.  we  first  find  a royal  residence  established  here  from  time  to 
time  ; but  it  was  not  till  1500  B.C.  that  the  town  began  to  flourish,  and 
nearly  all  the  antiquities  found  at  Thebes  belong  to  this  later  period. 

The  old  town  of  Thebes,  called  ^ ^ Ucset,  was  on  the  eastern 


bank,  and  stretched  inland  from  the  present  ruins  of  Karnak.  The 
harbour  quarter  of  the  town  was  close  to  the  modern  Luxor.  When  the 
town  became  the  seat  of  government,  the  kings  turned  their  energies  to 
the  building  of  the  temple  of  the  Theban  god  Amon,  in  order  to  make 
the  simple  dwelling-place  of  this  comparatively  obscure  god  worthy  of 
the  principal  deity  of  the  kingdom.  One  generation  after  another  added 
to  the  buildings  of  'Epet  (the  name  of  the  temple),  and  in  the  course  of 
centuries  a gigantic  sanctuary  arose,  the  ruins  of  which,  near  the  village 
of  Karnak,  stretch  for  more  than  half  a mile  in  length.  The  central 
of  the  three  great  temple  enclosures  measures  about  1 500  ft.  in  width, 
and  about  the  same  in  length  ; the  building  itself  being  about  1000 
ft.  by  300  ft.  wide.  A second  great  temple  was  erected  to  the  same 
god  on  the  river- bank  at  Luxor,  and  smaller  temples  were  built  for 
the  other  gods  of  the  town.  In  the  midst  of  these  various  sanctuaries 
stood  “ the  town  of  the  Hundred  Gates,”  that  great  city  which,  like  all 
other  Egyptian  towns,  has  disappeared.  The  gigantic  ruins  of  the  temples 
alone  remain  to  mark  the  site  of  the  old  capital  of  the  world,  of  which 
even  the  “ barbarians  ” in  far-off  Ionia  sang  : 1 


“ Royal  Thebes, 

Egyptian  treasure-house  of  countless  wealth, 

Who  boasts  her  hundred  gates,  through  each  of  which, 
With  horse  and  car  two  hundred  warriors  march.” 


During  the  course  of  centuries  there  arose  on  the  western  side  of  the 
river  a strange  city  with  which  we  shall  have  much  to  do  in  the  course  of 
this  book.  This  “ west  end  ” was  very  different  in  character  from  that  of 
London  or  Berlin  ; it  was  not  the  quarter  of  the  rich,  but  the  dwelling- 
place  of  the  dead. 

The  steep  sides  of  the  strangely -formed  western  mountains  are 
hollowed  out  into  vaults  for  the  dead,  and  so  numerous  did  they  become 
that  a modern  traveller  has  compared  them  to  the  holes  in  a sponge.  In 
the  valley,  now  called  the  Biban  el  Moluk,  were  the  graves  of  the  kings  ; 
immense  galleries  excavated  in  the  rocks,  planned  with  a boldness  and 
grandeur  unlike  anything  else  in  Egypt,  and  which,  ever  since  the  time 
of  the  Greek  travellers,  have  constituted  one  of  the  great  sights  of 
Thebes.  In  Egypt  the  deceased  was  honoured  as  a demigod,  and  there- 
fore a chapel  for  his  worship  was  a necessary  adjunct  of  the  Egyptian 

1 Iliad,  9,  38 1 ff.,  Derby. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


tomb.  These  chapels  were  as  a rule  either  close  to  the  tomb  or  they 
formed  part  of  it  ; but  in  the  narrow  desert  valley  of  Biban  el  Moluk, 
there  was  no  space  to  erect  funeral  temples  worthy  of  the  kings,  and  they 
therefore  stood  in  the  plain.  Thus  on  the  edge  of  the  western  mountains 
a series  of  great  buildings  arose — the  funeral  temple  of  Abt  el  Qurna 
(Sety  I.)  ; Der-el-Bahri  (Queen  Chnemtamun)  ; Medinet  Habu  (Ramses 
III.)  ; the  Ramesseum  (Ramses  II.),  and  others  to  which  we  shall  often 
refer.  It  follows,  of  course,  that  these  colossal  erections,  with  their  de- 
pendencies, their  gardens,  their  cattle-yards  and  storehouses,  must  have 
given  employment  to  a great  number  of  officials  and  workmen.  If  we 
add  to  these  the  crowd  of  embalmers,  coffin  manufacturers,  and  priests  of 
the  dead,  employed  in  the  numberless  private  tombs,  as  well  as  the  stone- 
masons, builders,  and  other  artisans  always  required  for  the  building  of  new 
tombs,  we  shall  understand  how  this  realm  of  the  dead  gradually  became 
a real  city.  The  tract  between  the  river  on  the  edge  of  the  western  hills 
was  doubtless  more  or  less  covered  with  houses,  at  least  along  the  high 
roads  which  led  down  from  each  great  funeral  temple  to  the  Nile. 

Strabo  reckoned  the  extent  of  Thebes,  including  the  western  side,  as 
nine  miles  ; and  even  if  parts  of  this  gigantic  town  were  taken  up  with 
country  houses  and  gardens,  yet  it  may  well  compare  with  the  great 
towns  of  the  world  of  modern  times. 

Thebes  fell  like  Rome  and  Nineveh.  When  the  seat  of  government 
was  removed  to  Lower  Egypt  the  heart  of  the  city  was  destroyed  and  her 
importance  lost,  and  she  became  more  and  more  deserted.  Those  parts 
of  the  town  which  could  be  used  for  arable  land  were  cultivated,  and 
gradually  the  inhabitants  who  remained  withdrew  to  the  sites  occupied 
by  the  great  buildings  ; and  thus  the  villages  of  Karnak,  Luxor,  and 
Medinet  Habu  nestled  round  those  vast  temples,  and  now  constitute  the 
last  remains  of  the  great  city. 

Sailing  down  the  stream  from  Thebes,  we  come  on  the  eastern  bank 
to  the  “ Nome  of  the  two  Hawks,”  important  in  old  and  modern  days  for 
the  same  reason.  The  river  here  makes  a deep  bend  towards  the  Red 
Sea,  and  is  met  by  a transverse  valley  of  the  Arabian  desert  which  forms 
a natural  road  from  Egypt  to  the  coast.  The  Egyptian  expeditions  to 
the  incense  country  of  Punt,  the  Greek  merchantmen  travelling  to  South 
Arabia,  the  Indian  navigators  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  modern  pilgrims  to 
Mecca,  all  have  used  this  road  ; and  it  is  only  since  the  opening  of  the 
Suez  Canal  that  traffic  has  been  wholly  diverted  into  another  channel. 
The  starting-points  for  the  desert,  and  the  harbours,  have  changed  from 
time  to  time  ; Koptos  (Qobte)  was  the  usual  starting-point  in  old  times  ; 
Ous  in  the  Middle  Ages  ; and  at  the  present  time  it  is  Keneh,  which  lies 
farther  to  the  north. 

In  old  times  this  road  was  also  important  for  the  great  quarries  of 
Rehanu,  the  modern  Hammamat,  situated  where  the  limestone  meets  the 
older  formations.  With  the  exception  of  granite,  all  the  hard  dark- 
coloured  stone  used  by  the  Egyptian  sculptors  came  from  these  quarries  ; 


THE  LAND  OF  EGYPT 


and  those  who  know  how  much  the  Egyptians  valued  these  “ eternal 
stones  ” can  estimate  the  importance  of  the  road  by  which  alone  they 
could  obtain  these  treasures.  Soldiers  protected  it  from  the  Beduins  of 
the  ’ Ente , who,  like  their  successors  the  Troglodytes  and  the  Ababde, 
would  suddenly  attack  travellers.  A higher  protection  than  the  soldiers 
was  also  at  hand,  for  Koptos  was  the  abode  of  the  great  god  Min,  the 
Ban  of  the  Egyptians,  who,  although  he  was  peculiarly  the  god  of  nature, 
took  the  travellers  of  the  desert  under  his  special  protection.  The  same 
god  had  another  famous  temple  in  the  town  of  Chemnis,  in  the  9th  nome, 
which  adjoined  the  5th  nome  on  the  north. 

This  part  of  Egypt  is  the  true  home  of  the  great  gods.  In  the  6th 
nome,  about  fourteen  miles  from  Koptos,  there  lav  on  the  western  bank 
the  temple  of  Denderah,  the  sacred  abode  of  Hathor,  the  goddess  of  joy 
and  love.  The  old  sanctuary  is  now  replaced  by  a Graeco-Roman  building. 
Then  again,  thirty-eight  miles  down  the  stream  in  the  8th  nome,  was 

the  most  holy  place  in  Egypt,  Abydos  ^ Jj^T1,  Wlt^  Srave  °f  Osiris. 

A blessing  was  supposed  to  rest  on  those  buried  here,  and  many  who 
preferred  to  be  interred  near  their  homes  put  up  gravestones  here,  so 
that  “ Osiris,  the  lord  of  Abydos,”  should  receive  them  into  the  under- 
world. Thus  Abydos  became  in  the  first  place  a city  of  the  dead,  in 
which,  as  in  western  Thebes,  the  living  only  dwelt  for  the  sake  of  the 
tombs.  Politically,  the  neighbouring  town  of  Thinis,  which  lay  rather 
nearer  to  the  river,  was  the  more  important,  at  any  rate  in  old  times. 

The  10th  and  1 ith  nomes  both  lay  on  the  western  bank  ; they  played 
but  a small  part  in  history  ; the  district  belonging  to  them  on  the  eastern 
bank,  the  “ Nome  of  the  two  Gods,”  was  of  more  importance.  The 
chief  town  of  the  latter,  Du  qau  (high  mountain),  the  modern  Qau,  lay  at 
the  entrance  of  one  of  the  great  desert  roads  which  led  to  the  porphyry 
quarries  in  the  northern  part  of  the  Arabian  desert.  Traffic  also  passed 
along  this  road,  and  across  the  Gulf  of  Aqabah  to  the  quarries  in  the 
peninsula  of  Sinai ; this  was  an  easier  route  than  that  by  sea  from  Lower 
Egypt. 

The  1 2th  nome,  “ his  Mountain,”  lay  on  the  eastern  bank,  and  was 
the  chief  seat  of  the  worship  of  Anubis,  the  jackal-headed  god  of  the 
dead  ; the  same  great  god  was  revered  in  the  opposite  nome,  the  “ first 
sycamore  nome,”  with  its  chief  town  of  Sint  (Saut).  This  latter  fact  is 
significant,  for  this  nome  with  the  two  following  was  governed  by  a 
powerful  race  of  rulers  during  the  so-called  Middle  Empire  (about  21 00- 
1900  B.C.),  and  the  interesting  representations  and  inscriptions  in  their 
rocky  tombs  are  almost  all  that  is  left  to  show  us  the  civilisation  of  this 
period.  In  nearly  every  section  of  this  work  we  shall  have  to  refer  to 
these  tombs  of  Siut,  Bersheh,  and  Beni  Hasan. 

We  next  come  to  the  1 5th  province,  probably  called  the  “ Nome  of 
the  Hare,”  with  its  famous  capital  of  Chmunu  (now  Ashmunen,  the  Greek 
I Iermopolis).  This  town  “of  the  eight,”  as  Chmunu  signifies,  was  so 


;4 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAr 


named  from  the  eight  elementary  beings  of  the  world,  who  were  honoured 
here.  The  chief  god  of  the  town  was  Thoth,  the  god  of  wisdom,  who  was 
considered  to  be  the  guide  of  these  eight  elementary  beings.  The  tombs 
of  the  princes  of  this  old  town  lie  on  the  opposite  (eastern)  side  of  the 
river  near  the  modern  Bersheh.  A little  to  the  south  of  Bersheh,  at  a 
point  where  the  eastern  chain  of  hills  retreats  somewhat,  we  find  some 
most  remarkable  ruins,  the  remains  of  the  city  and  tombs  of  Tell  el 
Amarna.  This  town  was  founded  (about  1340  B.C.)  in  a peremptory 
fashion  by  the  so-called  heretic  king,  the  strange  creature  Amenhotep  IV. 
He  had  broken  with  the  old  religion,  which  had  been  evolved  in  the  course 


rock  tombs  of  beni  HASAN  (seeL.D.,  i.  61). 


of  centuries,  and  he  wished  that  the  reformation  introduced  by  him 
should  remain  untouched  by  the  associations  which  were  bound  up  with 
the  capital  of  his  fathers.  He  therefore  left  Thebes  and  built  a new 
capital  at  Tell  el  Amarna,  but  this  town  enjoyed  only  a short  existence,  as 
a few  years  after  the  death  of  this  great  heretic  it  was  razed  to  the  ground. 

We  shall  often  have  to  speak  of  Meh,  the  16th  nome,  with  the  ante- 
lope as  its  coat-of-arms,  and  of  the  “ eastern  country,”  connected  with  that 
province,  and  of  the  town  of  Men'at  Chufu  (the  nurse  of  king  Chufu).  The 
tombs  of  the  governors  of  this  part  of  the  country  are  on  the  east  bank, 
the  celebrated  tombs  of  Beni  Hasan  ; they  are  most  precious  for  the 
light  they  throw  on  the  history  of  Egyptian  manners  and  customs.  At 
other  points  also  in  the  eastern  hills,  eg.  at  Zawijet  el  Mei'tin  and  at 
Oum  el  ahmar,  we  find  important  tombs  in  the  rocks. 

The  two  provinces  No.  5 and  No.  9,  which  were  contiguous,  both 
served  the  god  Min  ; No.  12  and  No.  13  the  jackal-headed  god  Anubis  ; 


I 


THE  LAND  OF  EGYPT 


25 


the  latter  god  was  also  worshipped  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Nile  in  the 
1 7th  and  1 8th  nomes.  These  provinces  played  little  part  in  political 
history,  least  of  all  the  1 8th,  where  there  was  little  arable  land,  but  to  which 
belonged  the  celebrated  alabaster  quarries  lying  in  the  mountains  at  the 
distance  of  about  a day’s  journey.  The  19th  nome  to  the  west  of  the 
Nile,  was  one  of  the  few  parts  of  Egypt  in  which  Set  or  Typhon  was 
revered.  The  worship  of  this  god,  the  enemy  of  all  fruitfulness,  may  have 
been  connected  with  the  calling  followed  by  the  inhabitants,  who  were 
most  of  them  guides  to  the  desert  caravans.1  The  road  to  the  northern 
oasis,  both  in  old  and  in  more  modern  times,  started  from  this  province. 

On  the  west  side  there  follow  the  anterior  and  posterior  Nomes  of  the 
Date  Palm  (the  20th  and  the  21st),  both  famous  in  old  Egypt.  The 
former  for  religious  reasons,  for  the  sun-god  Re‘  first  appeared,  bringing 
light  and  order  into  the  world,  on  the  hill  of  its  ancient  capital  Chenen- 
suten  or  Chenensu  (Herakleopolis,  the  present  Ahnas). 

The  fertile  Feyum  belonged  to  the  posterior  nome,  and  the  water 
reservoirs  here  were  most  important  for  the  whole  country  of  Egypt. 
Whilst  the  other  oases  lie  20  or  30  miles  from  the  Nile,  and  are  watered 
by  springs,  the  Feyum  is  connected  with  the  Nile  by  a canal,  and  is  close 
to  the  edge  of  the  western  valley,  the  traveller  in  fact  can  cross  the  inter- 
vening mountainous  district  in  little  more  than  an  hour. 

A little  to  the  south  of  the  above-mentioned  Bersheh,  the  great  canal 
(the  modern  Bahr  Yusuf,  Joseph’s  river)  makes  a bend  away  from  the  Nile, 
and  flows  northwards  to  the  western  side  of  the  valley.  This  is  not  an 
artificial  canal,  as  is  proved  by  its  many  curves  and  bends,  but  an  old 
branch  of  the  river  like  that  of  Abydos  ; it  is  connected  with  the  Bahr 
Yusuf  by  a dry  watercourse,  the  remains  of  the  old  bed  of  the  Nile, 
which  can  easily  be  traced  farther  north  into  the  Delta.  Herodotos 
relates  that  the  present  eastern  channel  of  the  Nile  was  not  the  ancient 
one  ; the  latter  formerly  flowed  close  to  the  western  edge  of  the  valley. 
This  great  change  was  probably  due  to  no  sudden  convulsion  of  nature  ; 
it  is  well  known  that  a stream  left  to  itself,  with  no  rocky  walls  to  stop 
it,  will  slowly  shift  its  bed,  and  sometimes,  after  forming  a new  branch 
may  even  for  centuries  allow  its  waters  to  flow  through  both  branches 
equally  before  it  entirely  gives  up  the  old  channel,  in  which  the  water 
gradually  subsides  till  the  watercourse  is  left  dry. 

Thus  in  ancient  Egypt  there  was  probably  an  older  channel  to  the 
west  of  the  valley  in  addition  to  the  present  one  on  the  east  side  ; the 
former,  as  was  related  by  the  priests  to  Herodotos,  was  dammed  up  above 
Memphis  by  Menes,  the  first  Egyptian  king  of  human  race,  in  order  to 
make  a site  for  his  new  capital.  It  may  be  that  another  work  as  daring 
was  undertaken  at  the  same  time  that  this  dam  was  constructed, — that  a 
gorge  in  the  rocks  between  tire  Nile  valley  and  the  Feyum  was  deepened 
and  the  branch  of  the  river  allowed  to  flow  into  the  Feyum.  By  these 
means  this  barren  depression  in  the  ground  was  changed  into  one  of  the 

1 Dtim.  Gesch.  des  alt.  Aeg.  202. 


26 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


most  fertile  parts  of  Egypt,  and  a province  of  about  900  square  miles  of 
arable  land  added  to  the  little  country.  This  was  not  all.  An  enterprising 
king  (probably  Amcnemhe't  III.  about  2000  B.C.)  built  dykes  some  miles 
in  length  in  order  to  change  the  south-eastern  corner  of  the  Feyum  into 
an  immense  reservoir  in  which  the  water  could  be  regulated  by  sluices. 
By  this  great  basin,  66  square  miles  in  area  (the  Lake  Moeris,  the  wonder 
of  the  Greeks),  the  inundation  in  the  Feyum  and  in  Lower  Egypt  was 
regulated  ; for  if  the  water  rose  too  high,  part  was  retained  in  this  deep 
lake,  if  too  low,  some  of  the  reserve  water  could  be  used  from  it.  It 
was  natural  that  in  this  lakeland , the  ancient  name  of  the  Feyum,  men 
should  revere  the  crocodile-headed  god  Subk,  whose  temple  was  to  be 
found  in  the  capital  Shedet,  called  in  later  times  Arsinoe.  The  two  nomes 
of  the  Date  Palm,  and  the  unimportant  nome  opposite  (the  23rd),  complete 
the  provinces  of  “ the  South”  or  Upper  Egypt. 

We  now  turn  to  the  discussion  of  the  “ North  Land,”  to  which  the 
northernmost  part  of  the  Nile  valley  belonged.  We  shall  be  able  to  be 
the  more  brief  as,  with  the  exception  of  its  southern  division,  Lower  Egypt 
was  of  little  importance  in  ancient  times.  During  the  course  of  centuries, 
in  no  part  of  the  Nile  valley  has  the  river  undergone  so  many  changes 
as  in  the  Delta.  There  are  now  but  two  mouths  to  the  Nile — that  of 
Rosetta  and  that  of  Damietta  ; in  Greek  times  we  know  there  were  seven, 
and  of  the  course  of  the  river  in  yet  earlier  periods  we  really  know 
nothing. 

The  north  of  the  Delta,  as  has  been  said  above,  was  covered  with 
swamps,  and  our  knowledge  of  the  southern  part  is  very  scanty.  It  is  there- 
fore difficult  to  determine  the  position  of  individual  provinces  ; indeed  it  is 
doubtful  whether  in  the  Delta  this  division  was  the  old  national  one. 
We  will  therefore  waive  that  question  entirely,  and  confine  ourselves  to 
the  description  of  certain  important  towns. 

The  old  capital  of  Egypt,  Memphis  (Mennufer),  naturally  stands  first  ; 
it  was  situated  a little  above  the  modern  Cairo  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
river.  It  has  entirely  disappeared  ; the  mounds  overgrown  with  palms 
close  to  the  village  of  Mitrahine  alone  denote  the  spot  where  stood  the 
great  temple  of  Ptah.  The  famous  citadel  of  the  town,  the  “ White 
Wall,”  as  well  as  the  other  buildings,  have  utterly  vanished,  evidently 
owing  to  the  fact  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighbouring  Cairo  used  the 
ruins  of  Memphis  as  a convenient  quarry.  The  long  line  of  pyramids, 
stretching  for  miles  along  the  western  ridge  of  hills,  alone  betrays  what  a 
powerful  city  once  stood  here.  Groups  of  these  royal  tombs  rise  from  the 
plateau,  which  extends  past  Gizeh,  Zawijet  el  Aryan,  Abusir,  Sakkarah, 
Dahshur,  and  Lisht,  to  Medum,  not  far  from  the  entrance  to  the  Feyum 
(see  Plate  IV.).  Grouped  round  each  pyramid  are  the  smaller  tombs  of 
courtiers  ; these  are  the  so-called  mastabahs, — those  ancient  tombs  which 
teach  us  so  much  about  the  life  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  in  the  earliest 
period,  in  the  same  way  as  those  of  Thebes  picture  to  us  the  later  times, 
and  those  of  Beni  Hasan  the  time  of  the  “ Middle  Empire.”  We  are 


I 


THE  LAND  OF  EGYPT 


27 


indebted  to  the  private  tombs  of  this  Memphite  necropolis  for  almost  all 
contained  in  this  book  concerning  the  “ Old  Empire.” 

About  19  miles  to  the  north  of  Memphis,  north-east  of  the  bend  of 


by  its  Greek  name,  Heliopolis.  This  name,  “ City  of  the  Sun,”  shows  us 
which  god  was  revered  here  ; the  temple  was  one  of  the  most  splendid 
in  the  country,  and,  according  to  Herodotos,  the  priests  were  considered 
the  wisest  in  Egypt.  A great  part  of  the  ancient  Egyptian  religious 
literature  appears  to  have  been  written  in  this  town.1  At  the  present  day 
fields  cover  the  sites  both  of  town  and  temples,  and  one  obelisk  stands 
alone  to  point  out  the  spot  to  visitors. 

The  west  of  the  Delta  was  probably  inhabited  chiefly  by  Libyans,  one 
town  only  being  frequently  mentioned  in  ancient  times,  Sais  (Sau),  the 
city  of  the  goddess  of  war,  Neith.  In  the  eighth  century  B.C.  this  town  first 
became  of  historical  importance,  the  Libyan  family  reigning  there,  certain 
chiefs  of  the  names  of  Psammetichus  and  Necho  having  raised  themselves 
to  be  kings  of  Egypt. 

The  east  of  the  Delta  was  more  thickly  populated  ; at  Mendes  ( Ded ) 
the  sacred  ram  was  revered  ; at  Busiris  was  a famous  tomb  of  Osiris ; at 
Bubastis  were  held  the  Dionysiac  festivals  of  the  cat-headed  goddess  of 
pleasure,  Bast.  To  the  north-east,  on  the  edge  of  the  swamps,  was  Tanis 
(Zoan),  an  important  town  even  in  early  ages.  Non-Egyptian  rulers  seem 
to  have  reigned  there  in  old  times  ; later  kings  also  resided  here  and 
built  a great  temple  to  the  warrior  god  Set.  Mariette  excavated  the 
vast  ruins  here  thirty  years  ago,  and  further  work  has  since  been  carried 
on  by  the  Egypt  Exploration  Fund,  the  results  of  which  have  been  pub- 
lished by  that  society.2 

The  isthmus  now  cut  through  by  the  Suez  Canal  between  the  Red 
Sea  and  the  Mediterranean  is  intersected  by  a number  of  lakes,  the 
remains  of  the  strait  which  formerly  separated  Africa  from  Asia.  These 
lakes  are  connected  with  the  Delta  by  a narrow  valley,  the  modern  Wadi 
Tumilat.  In  old  times  there  was  a canal  from  the  Nile  into  this  valley, 
which  fertilised  the  whole  district.  This  is  the  well-known  Land  of 
Goshen,  in  which,  according  to  the  Hebrew  account,  the  ancestors  of  the 
Jews  fed  their  cattle.  The  towns  of  Ramses  and  Pithom,  built  by  the 
Hebrews  when  in  bondage,  must  have  been  situated  here.  The  same 
king  Ramses  II.,  who  caused  these  towns  to  be  built,  seems  to  have 
undertaken  another  great  work  here,  the  continuation  of  the  canal  of  the 
Wadi  Tumilat  to  the  Bitter  Lakes,  and  the  cutting  through  of  the  rising 
ground  between  them  and  the  Red  Sea.  This  connection  between  the 
Nile  and  the  Red  Sea  was  the  true  precursor  of  the  Suez  Canal.  How- 
ever, this  great  work  seems  soon  to  have  been  rendered  useless  by  the 
silting  up  of  the  sand  ; King  Pharaoh  Necho  and  King  Darius  re-opened 


the  river,  was  the  ancient 


better  known  to  us 


1 Ed.  Meyer,  Set.  Typhon,  p.  7 ff. ; ditto,  History  of  the  East,  § 93. 

- See  Tanis,  i.,  1S84-S5  ; and  ii.,  1887-88.  Published  by  the  Egypt  Exploration  Fund. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP.  I 


it,  but  it  was  soon  filled  up  again  with  sand  ; afterwards  Trajan  and 
Hadrian  undertook  the  work,  and  later  the  conqueror  Amr  made  the 
canal  navigable  for  some  time.  The  old  course  of  the  canal  can  still  be 
distinctly  traced  by  the  side  of  the  modern  one. 

The  isthmus  of  Suez  was  of  the  greatest  consequence  also  from  a 
military  point  of  view — it  was  doubtless  fortified  in  very  early  times. 
Probably  here  stood  the  great  fortress  T’aru,  often  spoken  of  as  the 
starting-point  for  the  expeditions  into  Syria,  and  also  the  strongly  fortified 
town  of  Pelusium,  which  was  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  eastern  branch 
of  the  Nile.  Close  by  we  must  place  Hat-uar  (Avaris),  the  fortress  which 
for  centuries  served  as  a protection  to  the  power  of  the  barbarian  con- 
querors of  Egypt,  the  Hyksos. 


ONE  OF  THE  PATRON  GODDESSES  OF  BOTH  DIVISIONS  OF  THE  KINGDOM, 
IN  THE  FORM  OF  A SERPENT. 


ORNAMENTATION  COMPOSED  OF  CARTOUCHES  GUARDED  BY  URJF.US  SNAKES. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  PEOPLE  OF  EGYPT 

The  people  who  inhabited  ancient  Egypt  still  survive  in  their  descendants 
the  modern  Egyptians.  The  vicissitudes  of  history  have  changed  both 
language  and  religion,  but  invasions  and  conquests  have  not  been  able  to 
alter  the  features  of  this  ancient  people.  The  hundreds  and  thousands  of 
Greeks  and  Arabs  who  have  settled  in  the  country  seem  to  have  been 
absorbed  into  it  ; they  may  have  modified  the  race  in  the  great  towns, 
where  their  numbers  were  considerable,  but  in  the  open  country  they 
scarcely  produced  any  effect.  The  modern  fellah  resembles  his  forefather 
of  four  thousand  years  ago,  except  that  he  speaks  Arabic,  and  has  become 
a Mohammedan.  In  a modern  Egyptian  village,  figures  meet  one  which 
might  have  walked  out  of  the  pictures  in  an  ancient  Egyptian  tomb.  We 
must  not  deny  that  this  resemblance  is  partly  due  to  another  reason 
besides  the  continuance  of  the  old  race.  Each  country  and  condition  of 
life  stamps  the  inhabitants  with  certain  characteristics.  The  nomad  of 
the  desert  has  the  same  features,  whether  he  wanders  through  the  Sahara 
or  the  interior  of  Arabia  ; and  the  Copt,  who  has  maintained  his  religion 
through  centuries  of  oppression,  might  be  mistaken  at  first  sight  for  a 
Polish  Jew,  who  has  suffered  in  the  same  way.  The  Egyptian  soil  there- 
fore, with  its  ever-constant  conditions  of  life,  has  always  stamped  the 
population  of  the  Nile  valley  with  the  same  seal. 

The  question  of  the  race-origin  of  the  Egyptians  has  long  been  a 
matter  of  dispute  between  ethnologists  and  philologists,  the  former  main- 
taining the  African  theory  of  descent,  the  latter  the  Asiatic.  Ethnologists 
assert  that  nothing  exists  in  the  physical  structure  of  the  Egyptian  to 
distinguish  him  from  the  native  African,  and  that  from  the  Egyptian  to 
the  negro  population  of  tropical  Africa,  a series  of  links  exist  which  do 
not  admit  of  a break.  The  Egyptians,  they  maintain,  cannot  be  separated 
from  the  Berbers,  nor  the  latter  from  the  Kelowi  or  the  Tibbu,  nor  these 
again  from  the  inhabitants  round  Lake  Tsad  ; all  form  one  race  in  the 
mind  of  the  ethnologist,  differentiated  only  by  the  influence  of  a dissimilar 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


manner  of  life  and  climate.  Therefore,  they  say,  many  old  customs  of 
the  ancient  Egyptians  are  now  found  amongst  the  people  of  the  Upper 

Nile.  I will  only  instance  the  curious 
head-rest  still  used  in  the  east  of  the 
Sudan  to  protect  the  wig,  and  the 
peculiar  sickle-shaped  sword,  still  carried 
by  the  Monbuttu  princes  with  the  same 
dignity  as  it  was  of  old  by  the  Pharaohs. 
On  the  other  side  philologists  maintain 
that  the  language  of  the  ancient  Egypt- 
ians has  distinct  kinship  with  that  of 
the  so-called  Semitic  nations. 

Spread  over  anterior  Asia,  and  the 
east  and  north  of  Africa,  is  found  a great 
root  - language,  which  has  been  called 
after  its  chief  representatives,  the  Egypto- 
Semitic.  The  Semitic  languages  of 
Arabia,  Syria,  and  Mesopotamia  belong 
to  this  group,  as  well  as  the  allied 
Ethiopian  dialects  of  east  Africa,  the 
languages  of  the  Besharis,  Gallas,  and 
Somalis.  Further  removed  is  the 
Libyan,  spoken  by  the  people  of 
Berber  in  north  Africa,  as  far  as 
the  Atlantic  ; and  still  more  peculiarly 
constituted  is  the  ancient  Egyptian. 
Nothing  certain  has  been  or  probably 
will  be  ascertained,  for  the  Libyan  and 
Ethiopian  languages  are  only  known  to 
us  in  their  present  much-changed  forms. 
But  the  fact  remains  that  philologists 
consider  that  the  people  who  speak 
these  languages  belong  to  one  and 
the  same  race.  Other  reasons  tend 
to  show  us  that  the  Semitic  races 
migrated  from  one  part  of  Asia  to  the  districts  in  which  they  afterwards 
settled,  and  therefore  the  theory  has  been  accepted  that  the  Ethiopian, 
Libyan,  and  Egyptian  people  all  forsook  their  Asiatic  homes  during  the 
dim  ages  of  the  past,  and  seized  possession  of  north  and  east  Africa. 
This  theory  is  directly  opposed  to  that  of  the  ethnologists,  according  to 
whom  these  races  are  purely  African.  If  we  free  ourselves,  however,  from 
the  prejudices  which  have  so  long  held  unlimited  sway  over  this  domain 
of  science,  we  shall  be  able  to  reconcile  these  two  theories.  It  seems  a 
very  doubtful  hypothesis  that  ancient  races  should  dwell  quietly  in  one 
inhospitable  region  until  the  idea  should  suddenly  seize  them  to  forsake 
their  homes  and,  with  their  children  and  their  goods,  to  seek  a better 


PORTRAIT  OF  AN  UNKNOWN  MAN  OF  THE 

fourth  dynasty.  Mistaken  by  Mariette’s 
workmen  for  the  present  Sheik  - el  - Beled 
(Mayor)  of  Sakkarah  (Perrot-Chipiez). 


II 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  EGYPT 


3i 


country.  Such  migrations  have  certainly  taken  place  amongst  the  hordes 
of  barbarians  (eg.  the  old  migrations  of  the  Teuton  or  Scythian  races), 
but  they  never  had  much  effect.  After  a few  generations  all  traces  of 
them  have  disappeared  in  the  countries  they  conquered,  and  no  one  would 
imagine  from  the  appearance  of  the  inhabitants  of  modern  Italy,  Spain, 
or  Tunis,  that  whole  tribes  of  Germanic  race  had  overrun  those  countries. 
Neither  the  language  nor  the  race  of  the  subject  nation  suffers  permanent 
change  from  such  violent  incursions. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  but  a few  adventurers  conquer  a country  and 
thus  make  it  possible  for  their  kindred  to  settle  there,  the  constant  influx 


fellah  from  el  kab.  (From  a photograph  by  Ebers. ) 


of  immigrants  even  in  small  numbers  has  an  immense  influence  on  the 
people.  In  the  first  place,  the  conquerors  succeed  in  introducing  their 
language  to  be  used  officially  ; the  upper  classes  of  the  subject  race, 
desiring  to  belong  to  the  ruling  class,  then  begin  ostentatiously  to  use 
foreign  idioms  ; at  last,  perhaps  only  after  a thousand  years,  the  lower 
classes  begin  also  to  adopt  the  new  language.  Thus  in  our  own  days 
we  have  seen  nations  extend  their  nationality,  eg.  a few  Spaniards  and 
Portuguese  in  South  America,  a few  Arabs  amongst  the  Copts  and 
Berbers,  a few  Anglo-Saxons  amongst  the  Celts  in  England.  In  each 
case  we  see  that  in  this  process  the  language  only  of  the  subject  people 
is  changed,  the  race  itself  remains  unaltered. 

In  like  manner  probably  ancient  nations  underwent  transformations. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


The  inhabitants  of  Libya,  Egypt,  and  Ethiopia  have  probably  belonged  to 
the  same  race  since  prehistoric  times  ; in  physical  structure  they  are  still 
Africans,  though  in  later  times  they  have  adopted  an  Asiatic  language. 
No  one  can  say  how  long  they  have  used  kindred  dialects.  It  may  be 
these  proceeded  from  the  one  language  they  originally  possessed,  or  it  is 
quite  possible  that  one  of  these  races  imposed  their  tongue  on  the  others, 
or  they  may  have  been  derived  from  a tribe  of  which  we  have  never 
heard.  Considering  how  little  we  know  of  the  Egypto-Semitic  speech, 
we  may  suppose  that  it  was  to  a Libyan  invasion  that  the  valley  of  the 
Nile  owed  in  the  first  place  its  later  language  ; that  a similar  incursion 
endowed  the  inhabitants  of  Syria  and  Arabia  with  the  Semitic  tongue  ; 
and  that  the  latter  nations  gave  the  same  to  the  dwellers  in  east  Africa. 
This  is  of  course  pure  hypothesis,  for  the  same  process  may  have  taken 
place  in  many  other  ways.  Probably  we  shall  never  have  any  certainty 
on  the  matter,  for  these  events  occurred  more  than  five  thousand  years 
ago,  which  is  the  length  of  the  period  we  hope  to  survey.  How  it  hap- 
pened is  of  small  consequence,  it  is  only  important  to  remember  that 
there  is  no  necessity  for  a great  immigration  of  the  Egyptians  from  some 
distant  corner  of  Asia.  We  may  conscientiously  believe  them  to  be 
natives  of  their  own  country,  children  of  their  own  soil,  even  if  it  should 
be  proved  that  their  old  language,  like  their  modern  one,  was  imported 
from  other  countries. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Egyptians  considered  themselves  an  indi- 
genous people,  free  from  any  foreign  taint.  Were  they  not  the  peculiar 
people,  specially  loved  by  the  gods  ? Did  not  the  great  gods  first  manifest 
themselves  in  Egypt,  where  the  sun-god  ruled  and  fought  as  a king,  and 
where  his  descendants  still  sat  on  the  throne  ? Therefore  the  Egyptians 


alone  were  termed 


(romet)  ; other  nations  were  negroes, 


Asiatics,  or  Libyans,  but  not  men } According  to  the  myth,  these  nations 
were  descended  from  the  enemies  of  the  gods,  for  when  the  sun-god  Re‘ 
overthrew  his  opponents  at  Edfu,  a few  succeeded  in  making  their  escape  ; 
those  who  fled  to  the  south  became  the  Ethiopians,  those  to  the  north 
Asiatics  ; from  the  fugitives  of  the  west  sprang  the  Libyans,  and  from 
those  of  the  east,  the  Beduins.1 2 

The  Egyptians  named  their  country  from  the  colour  of  the  soil  “ the 
black  country  ” (Qemet),  and  thus  distinguished  it  from  the  red  country  of 
the  barbarians  : they  also  believed  themselves  to  be  superior  to  foreigners 
by  the  colour  of  their  skin.  The  Syrians  were  light  brown,  the  Libyans 
white,  the  negroes  black,  but  the  Egyptians  had  received  from  the  gods 
their  beautiful  colour,  a deep  dark  brown  for  the  men,  a light  yellow  for 
the  women.3 

Circumcision  was  also  practised  from  early  times  by  the  Egyptians, 


1 L.D.,  iii.  136,  where  the  names  of  the  nations  are  explained  by  puns  on  the  name  of  the  god 

Ilorus.  The  word  Retu,  which  appears  in  ethnological  works  for  Egyptians,  is  incorrect,  the  word 

reads  Romet.  2 Naville,  Myth  of  Horus,  21,  2.  3 Stele  of  Kuban,  line  3. 


II 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  EGYPT 


33 


yet  probably  they  did  not  attach  so  much  importance  to  this  curious 
custom  as  the  Jews  and  Mohammedans.  It  first  became  a religious  token 
amongst  the  Jews,  who  zealously  tried  to  distinguish  themselves  in  all 
ways  from  the  surrounding  heathen  ; had  the  Egyptians  also  regarded  it 
as  a divine  institution  they  would  have  mentioned  it  more  frequently. 

The  reader  will  be  able  to  judge  of  the  physical  form  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians  from  the  illustrations  of  this  book.  It  must  be  noticed  that  the 
faces  of  the  distinguished  men  of  the  Old  Empire  have  as  a rule  little 
that  is  aristocratic  about  them.  These  ancient  grandees  have  robust 


STATUE  OF  AN  UNKNOWN  SCRIBE  IN  THE  LOUVRE  (Perrot-Chipiez). 


bony  features  with  the  clever  witty  expression  that  we  are  accustomed 
to  associate  with  the  faces  of  knowing  old  peasants.  The  expression  of 
the  face  becomes  more  refined  in  the  great  men  of  the  New  Empire, 
showing  the  usual  effect  exercised  on  the  higher  class  by  long  intellectual 
civilisation. 

Many  contrary  opinions  have  been  expressed  touching  the  character 
of  the  Egyptian  people,  and  their  mental  faculties.  While  Herodotos 
praises  the  wisdom  and  the  good  memory  of  the  Egyptians,  and  Dio- 
dorus declares  them  to  be  the  most  grateful  people  in  the  world,  the 
Emperor  Hadrian  says  that,  when  travelling  in  Egypt,  he  found  them 
to  be  utterly  frivolous,  vacillating,  credulous  of  every  idle  tale,  hostile, 
good-for-nothing,  and  slanderous.  In  the  same  way  many  modern 

D 


34 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


scholars  represent  them  as  pious  folk,  who  thought  more  of  the  future 
world  than  of  the  present,  while  others  praise  their  cheerful  childlike 
pleasure  in  the  things  of  this  world.  The  exponents  of  each  of  these 
theories  regard  the  matter  too  exclusively  from  one  point  of  view  ; in 
truth  the  question  is  one  admitting  only  of  a subjective  answer.  If  the 
character  of  an  individual  is  complex,  that  of  a nation  is  still  more  so, 
and  what  Faust  says  of  the  “ spirit  of  the  times  ” is  equally  true  of  the 
“ spirit  of  the  nations,”  for  after  all,  it  is  a well-known  fact  that  the  mind 
of  the  man  himself  is  mirrored  in  that  of  the  people. 

We  have  already  indicated  in  the  preceding  chapter  what  we  think  of 
the  character  of  the  ancient  Egyptians.  As  a nation  they  appear  to  us 
to  have  been  intelligent,  practical,  and  very  energetic,  but  lacking  poetical 
imagination:  this  is  exactly  what  we  should  expect  from  a nation  of  peasants 
living  in  this  country  of  toilsome  agriculture.  We  will  quote  the  words 
of  one,  profoundly  acquainted  with  Egypt,  referring  to  the  modern  lower 
classes,  i.e.  to  those  in  whom  the  characteristics  of  the  nation  find  their 
natural  expression.  He  says,  “ In  his  youth  the  Egyptian  peasant  is 
wonderfully  docile,  sensible,  and  active  ; in  his  riper  years,  owing  to  want 
and  care,  and  the  continual  work  of  drawing  water,  he  loses  the  cheerful- 
ness, freshness,  and  elasticity  of  mind  which  made  him  appear  so  amiable 
and  promising  as  a boy.  He  sows  and  reaps,  he  works  and  earns  money, 
but  his  piastres  rarely  remain  in  his  own  possession,  and  he  sees  the  fruits 
of  his  labour  pass  into  the  hands  of  those  above  him.  His  character  is 
therefore  like  that  of  a gifted  child  who  has  been  harshly  brought  up, 
and  who  realises  as  he  grows  older  that  others  are  taking  advantage  of 
his  work.”1  This  picture  of  a race,  cheerful  by  nature,  but  losing  the 
happy  temperament  and  becoming  selfish  and  hardened  in  the  severe 
work  of  life,  represents  also  the  ancient  people,  as  they  appear  to  the  eyes 
of  an  unprejudiced  observer. 

The  earliest  monuments  that  have  come  down  to  us  represent  the 
Egyptians  as  possessing,  even  then,  an  ancient  civilisation,  also  a complete 
system  of  writing,  a literature,  a highly-developed  art,  and  a well-ordered 
government.  Preceding  this  first  period  of  Egyptian  history  a long  time 
of  peaceful  development  must  have  elapsed,  about  which  we  have  no 
information.  The  learned  men  of  Egypt  imagined  the  time  before  their 
first  king  Menes  to  have  been  a sort  of  golden  age,  in  which  the  gods 
reigned  ; the  learned  men  of  modern  times  call  the  same  period  “ the  stone 
age  both  theories  are  certainly  ingenious,  but  both  are  alike  difficult 
to  prove.  It  is  but  seldom  that  we  can  draw  any  conclusion,  as  to  the 
life  in  Egypt  in  prehistoric  times,  from  customs  existing  amongst  the 
Egyptians  during  the  historical  periods.  We  may  conclude  however,  from 
the  form  .of  the  royal  robes,  that  the  dignity  of  king  existed  in  Egypt  at 
a time  when  the  people,  like  the  negroes  of  to-day,  wore  nothing  but  a 
kirtle.  The  royal  attire  was  formerly  an  apron  and  a lion’s  tail,  whilst 
the  grandees  distinguished  themselves  from  the  people  by  a panther’s  skin, 
1 See  Baedeker’s  Lower  Egypt,  p.  47. 


II 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  EGYPT 


35 


which  they  threw  over  their  shoulders.  The  sportsmen  made  their  way 
through  the  swamps  on  boats  made  of  reeds,  and  hunted  there  with  throw- 
sticks.  Their  knives,  in  part  at  least,  as  well  as  the  tips  of  their  arrows, 
were  made  of  flint,  yet  we  must  not  conclude  from  this  fact  that  they 
were  ignorant  of  the  use  of  metals.  They  reckoned  their  years  by  notches, 
reminding  us  of  a time  when  the  art  of  writing  was  unknown. 

All  these  customs,  which  were  dying  out  even  in  the  earliest  historical 
times,  are  a heritage  from  that  ancient  period  when  the  Egyptian  civilisa- 
tion mpy  perhaps  have  equalled  that  of  the  modern  Somalis  or  Gallas. 
How  many  hundreds  or  thousands  of  years  were  necessary  to  evolve  the 
civilised  subjects  of  King  Snofru  from  these  simple  savages  we  cannot 
even  conjecture. 

In  many  parts  of  Egypt,  where  nature  was  unfavourable,  the  people 
doubtless  were  far  behind  their  compatriots  in  civilisation,  eg.  the  people 
of  the  swamps  ( sochete ),  who  are  represented  on  the  monuments  of  the 
Old  Empire  as  shepherds  or  bird-snarers.  Their  clothing  of  rush-mats, 
and  the  manner  in  which  they  wear  their  hair  and  their  beard,  make  them 
appear  very  barbaric.  These  dwellers  in  the  swamps  may  possibly  belong 
to  a different  race  from  the  native  Egyptians.  We  know  that  the  north- 
west of  the  Delta  was  inhabited  by  Libyans  and  that  at  one  time  a 
foreign  element  existed  also  in  the  north-east.  By  the  latter  we  refer 
to  that  people  whose  remarkable  features  we  recognise  on  the  so-called 
Hyksos  Sphinxes  of  Tanis,  whose  descendants  were  the  Bashmurites  of 
the  Middle  Ages. 


THE  SUN'S  DISC,  WITH  BRIGHTLY  COLOURED  WINGS,  THE  EMBLEM  OF  A VICTORIOUS  KING. 


CHAPTER  III 

HISTORY  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 

In  the  foregoing  chapter,  we  were  unfortunately  obliged  to  concern 
ourselves  chiefly  with  prehistoric  conditions,  of  which  we  can  only  form 
hypotheses.  With  the  first  inscriptions  we  pass  on  to  firmer  historical 
ground.  The  reader  must  not  expect  too  much  from  the  short  sketch  of 
Egyptian  history  which  follows  : to  a great  degree  our  knowledge  consists 
merely  of  the  names  of  the  kings  and  their  order  of  succession,  and  in 
several  periods  even  these  are  not  certainly  determined.  As  a rule  but 
few  facts  can  be  gleaned  from  the  inscriptions,  which  mostly  contain  foolish 
exaggerations  of  the  glory  of  the  monarch  ; a hundred  texts  will  tell  us 
that  the  Pharaoh  was  the  “ friend  of  the  gods,”  and  that  he  “ overthrew 
all  the  barbarians,”  while  one  solitary  inscription  may  inform  us  which 
temple  he  built,  or  against  what  nation  he  sent  his  soldiers.  Civil  wars 
and  disputes  about  the  succession  are  always  passed  over  in  silence,  that 
posterity  might  only  know  that  “the  gods  have  established  their  son  the 
Pharaoh  on  the  throne,  that  the  world  may  rejoice.” 

Chronology  also  fails  us.  We  can  say  for  certain  that  King  Necho 
reigned  from  609-595,  and  King  Sheshonk  about  930,  that  Ramses  II. 
lived  in  the  thirteenth  and  Thothmes  III.1  in  the  fifteenth  century  B.C.,  but 
more  than  this  we  cannot  tell.  Amenemhe't  I.  is  placed  by  one  scholar 
about  2130  B.C.,  by  another  about  2380  B.C.,  and  by  yet  another  about 
2466  B.C.  ; and  the  various  dates  suggested  for  King  Snofru  and  his 
successors  are  quite  endless.  Whether  we  follow  the  date  given  by 
Edward  Meyer,  2830  B.C..  or  that  of  Lepsius,  3 1 24  B.C.,  or  that  of  Brugsch, 
3766  B.C.,  one  is  as  impossible  to  prove  as  another.  We  should  have  been 
able  to  draw  up  an  approximately  correct  chronology  had  we  possessed 
the  whole  of  the  Turin  Papyrus  instead  of  a few  fragments,  for  this  docu- 
ment contained  a list  of  the  kings,  with  the  length  of  their  reigns,  or  again 
had  the  Greek  history  of  Egypt  by  Manetho  been  preserved  to  us  intact, 
instead  of  in  a few  scanty  quotations.  Even  then  our  dates  would  not 
have  been  quite  trustworthy,  for  we  know  that  neither  the  compiler  of  the 

1 The  form  Thothmes  will  be  used  in  the  English  edition  instead  of  Dhutmose,  the  former  being 
more  familiar  to  English  readers. 


CHAP.  Ill 


HISTORY  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


37 


Turin  Papyrus  nor  Manetho  was  always  correctly  informed  as  to  the 
more  ancient  kings. 

Lepsius  has  collected  together  all  that  can  be  gathered  from  these 
two  sources,  and  on  the  whole  his  chronology  gives  us  an  accurate  idea 
of  Egyptian  history,  especially  for  the  later  periods.  As  it  would  be 
impossible  to  give  exact  data,  I prefer  to  state  the  chronology'  in  this  book 
in  round  numbers,  which  the  reader  will  at  first  sight  understand  to  be 
only  approximate.  I shall  follow  the  chronology  of  Edward  Meyer  in  his 
excellent  history  of  the  ancient  east,  and  the  numbers  given  may  be 
accounted  as  nearly  correct  from  about  15  30  B.C.  ; earlier  than  that  they' 
are  only  minima  data,  that  is,  they  indicate  the  lowest  date  which  can  be 
accepted  for  the  individual  ruler,  eg.  Amenemhe't  I.  is  said  to  have  reigned 
2 1 30  B.C.,  and  this  signifies  that  probably  his  reign  was  not  later  than  that 
date,  though  it  may  have  been  one  or  even  two  hundred  years  earlier. 
This  uncertainty''  is  of  course  greater  in  the  earliest  periods,  and  when  we 
state  the  latest  date  for  King  Snofru  to  be  2830  B.C.,  we  may  be  placing 
him  five  hundred  years  too  late.  As  a simple  and  practical  way  out  of 
the  difficulties  which  arise  from  this  uncertain  chronology,  Egyptologists, 
following  the  example  of  Manetho,  have  divided  the  kings  of  Egypt  into 
dynasties,  which  they  have  numbered.  Historically,  this  division  is  often 
not  quite  accurate,  but  it  is  useful  in  practice,  and  enables  us  to  maintain 
the  ancient  familiar  terms  for  the  different  periods  of  Egyptian  history. 
Otherwise  we  have  little  to  do  with  the  30  dynasties,  into  which  the  time 
before  the  conquest  of  Alexander  has  been  divided,  and  of  which  the 
following  are  the  principal  : — 


Dynasty  IV.  and  V. 


VI. 

XII. 

XIII. 


XVIII. 

XIX. 


XX. 


At  latest  from  2830  B.C. 
„ „ 2530  „ 


The  so-called  “ Old  Empire.” 


About 


” “I3°  ” [.  The  “ Middle  Empire.” 

„ 1930  „ 1 1 

1530-1320  „ j 

1320-1180  „ l The  “ New  Empire.” 
1180-1050  „ | 


We  have  only  to  take  into  serious  consideration  these  three  periods, 
and  the  reader  is  requested  to  remember  them  carefully,  and  to  note  the 
following  facts  : there  are  no  monuments  belonging  to  the  first  three 
dynasties  ; from  the  7th  to  the  1 ith,  and  from  the  14th  to  the  17th,  are 
periods  of  political  confusion,  and  after  the  20th,  inscriptions  and  papyri 
are  too  rare  to  yield  satisfactory'  results  for  our  object. 

Before  the  time  of  the  4th  dymasty  Egypt  had  already  been  united 
into  one  kingdom,  but  we  may  feel  sure  that  this  was  not  the  original 
political  state  of  the  country.  It  was  doubtless  formerly  divided  into 
two  parts,  the  frontier  being  a little  above  Memphis.  We  know  not 
under  which  king  these  “ two  countries  ” were  united  (they'  were  not  really' 
merged  into  one  country),  probably  it  was  under  one  of  the  rulers  of 
Upper  Egypt,  whose  titles  were  used  alone  by  the  later  kings  of  the  whole 
country'.  It  may'  have  been  Menes,  of  whom  the  Egyptian  legend  tells 


3§ 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


that  he  was  the  first  king  of  human  race,  that  he  came  from  Thinis  in 
Upper  Egypt,  and  that  he  founded  Memphis.  In  this  case  Egypt,  at  the 
time  of  the  4th  dynasty,  would,  for  about  the  space  of  three  centuries,  have 
been  united  into  one  kingdom,  but  however  powerful  this  united  kingdom 


KING  cha'fre'  (Gizeh  Museum,  from  Perrot-Chipiez). 


may  have  been,  there  is  no  trace  of  any  wish  to  claim  power  outside 
Egypt.  We  hear  of  no  great  wars  or  conquests,  perhaps  because  the 
rulers  had,  as  they  thought,  more  important  work  for  the  resources  of 
the  country.  They  had  to  b-  n 1 their  gigantic  tombs,  those  pyramids, 


THE  PYRAMIDS  OF  GIZEH,  SEEN  FROM  THE  SOUTH. 

(After  L.  D.,  I.  19.)  [To  face  page  38. 


Ill 


HISTORY  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


39 


standing  on  the  Memphite  plateau,  which  have  become  symbolic  of  Egypt. 
All  the  kings  of  the  Old  Empire  indulged  in  this  luxury,  and  this  epoch 
has  been  rightly  termed  the  Pyramid  Age,  for  apparently  the  whole  life 
of  the  nation  revolved  round  the  building  of  those  royal  tombs. 

Three  kings  of  the  4th  dynasty  have  gained  special  renown  for  the 
building  of  their  tombs,  Chufu  (Cheops),  Cha'fre*  (Chephren),  and  Menkere* 
(Mykerinos)  : to  them  we  owe  the  three  famous  pyramids  of  Gizeh. 
Their  successors  also  built  magnificent  tombs,  and  if  none  of  them  vie 
with  those  of  Chufu  and  Cha‘fre‘,  it  may  have  been  that  the  later  kings 
could  not  devote  so  much  time  to  their  tombs  as  those  two  monarchs, 
whose  reigns  were  so  long.  At  the  same  time  other  works  were  carried  on, 
temples  were  restored  or  enlarged,  the  mines  were  worked  in  the  Penin- 
sula of  Sinai,  and  numberless  private  tombs  were  erected  for  the  courtiers, 
partly  at  the  public  cost. 

The  mania  for  building,  which  is  so  characteristic  of  the  Egyptians, 
was  thus  actively  pursued  under  the  Old  Empire,  and  princes  were  proud 
to  bear  the  title — “ Superintendent  of  the  works  of  the  King.”  We  must 
be  grateful  to  those  old  architects  ; for  were  it  not  for  the  non-religious 
reliefs  which  decorate  the  private  tombs  surrounding  each  pyramid,  we 
should  be  almost  entirely  ignorant  of  the  cheerful  pleasant  life  of  this 
ancient  period. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  how  the  time  of  the  Old  Empire  appeared  to 
the  later  Egyptians.  Under  the  New  Empire  men  looked  back  to  it  as 
to  the  dim  past,  a time  long  before  the  classical  age,  and  if  they  wished  to 
represent  anything  as  having  happened  very  long  ago,  e.g.  the  discovery  of 
a sacred  book,  they  preferred  to  ascribe  it  to  one  of  those  ancient  rulers. 
On  the  contrary,  to  the  men  of  the  time  of  Psammetichus,  the  Old  Empire 
appeared  to  be  the  finest  period  of  Egyptian  history  ; they  delighted  to 
imitate  the  customs  of  that  time,  even  in  undesirable  ways,  such  as  the 
difficult  orthography.  Then,  again,  the  populace  of  late  date,  and  the 
Greek  travellers  informed  by  them,  looked  back  to  the  pyramid  age  as  to 
a time  when  the  lower  orders  were  greatly  oppressed  by  forced  labour. 
Lastly,  to  the  modern  world,  the  Old  Empire  appears  to  have  been  a 
period  of  youthful  power  and  undisturbed  development  ; for  not  only  do 
the  tomb-pictures  show  no  dislike  of  this  world,  but  also  art  itself  is 
fresher  than  in  any  subsequent  period.  Later  artists  were  never  able  to 
achieve  works  like  the  statues  of  the  scribe  of  the  Louvre  or  of  King 
Cha‘fre‘. 

The  duration  of  the  4th  and  5th  dynasties  is  reckoned  as  about  300 
years,  during  which  time  perhaps  fifteen  kings  may  have  reigned.  In  the 
meantime  the  nation  did  not  remain  stationary,  and  if  we  compare  a 
monument  of  the  time  of  Snofru,  one  of  the  first  kings  of  the  4th  dynasty, 
with  one  of  the  time  of  ’Ess’e  or  of  L’n’es,  who  reigned  at  the  close  of  the 
5th  dynasty,  we  see  at  once  that  the  old  simplicity  has  given  place  to 
greater  luxury. 

Pepy,  the  third  king  of  the  6th  dynasty,  is  worthy  of  special  attention. 


40 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


He  must  have  been  a mighty  monarch,  for  memorials  of  him  are  found 
throughout  Egypt,  as  well  as  in  various  mines  and  quarries.  He  erected 
buildings  both  at  Denderah  and  at  Tanis,  and  yet  it  appears  that  in  his 
time  there  was  a decentralisation  of  the  government  ; this  may  have  been 
owing  to  political  events  at  the  time  of  the  rise  of  the  6th  dynasty. 
Formerly  the  great  men,  although  they  can  scarcely  all  have  resided  in 
the  capital,  were  buried  together  in  the  Memphite  city  of  the  dead,  but  at 
this  time  other  burial-places  in  the  country  began  to  be  used.  Many 
princely  families  were  laid  to  rest  near  their  homes  {eg.  the  tombs  of 
Zawijet  el  Meitin),  and  others  of  exceptional  piety  erected  their  tombs  on 
the  sacred  soil  of  Abvdos  near  the  grave  of  Osiris.  An  inscription  tells 
us  of  a great  campaign,  which  Pepy  carried  on  against  the  Syrian  Beduins, 


SPHINX  FROM  TANIS. 

who  had  overrun  the  country.  Of  the  kings  who  immediately  succeeded 
Pepy  we  know  little,  though  their  tombs  and  names  yet  remain  with  us  ; 
after  them  ensues  a period  of  historical  darkness.  We  know  not  what 
happened  to  the  kingdom  of  Pepy,  and  though  we  conjecture  that  it  was 
afterwards  divided  into  small  principalities,  history  is  silent  on  the  subject. 
Neither  can  we  tell  how  long  the  country  was  split  up  in  this  way,— 
probably  for  a long  time,  for  under  the  Middle  Empire  Egypt  has  acquired 
an  entirely  different  aspect. 

The  east  of  the  Delta  was  probably  governed  at  this  time  by  a mighty 
race  of  rulers,  the  first  king  of  whom,  according  to  Manetho,  was  more 
powerful  and  more  wicked  than  any  preceding  monarch.  These  barba- 
rians were  probably  the  old  inhabitants  of  this  part  of  the  Delta;  and  it  is 
to  them  I believe  that  we  owe  those  remarkable  unegyptian  statues  and 
sphinxes,  generally  considered  as  belonging  to  the  later  time  of  the 
Hyksos  invasion. 


Ill 


HISTORY  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


4i 


In  Thebes,  meanwhile,  there  ruled  another  dynasty  called  the  1 ith, 
whose  princes  bore  the  names  of  ’Entef  and  Ment'uhotep.  The  last  of  their 
race  seem  again  to  have  gained  possession  of  the  whole  kingdom.  There 
was  probably  great  confusion  in  the  land  in  their  time,  and  when  the  first 
king  of  the  12th  dynasty,  Amenemhe‘t  I.,  marched  through  the  country 
“to  overthrow  the  evil,  he  who  shone  as  the  god  Atum  was  obliged  to 
restore  what  he  found  destroyed.  He  divided  one  town  from  another,  he 
fixed  the  frontier  of  each  township,  and  placed  the  boundary  stones  as  firm 
as  the  sky.”  He  proceeded  in  this  matter  not  according  to  his  own  will, 
but  “ he  sought  information  from  the  books  as  to  the  irrigated  district 
belonging  to  each  town,  and  this  was  drawn  up  according  to  the  old  writings, 
because  he  loved  truth  so  much.”1  Thus  the  first  kings  of  the  1 2th  dynasty 
tried  to  reorganise  the  country,  and  the  result  was  that  they  succeeded  in 
raising  the  kingdom  to  a higher  level  of  civilisation  than  it  had  reached  before. 

These  kings  (who  all  bore  the  names  of  Amenemhe‘t  and  Usertsen) 
built  much  in  the  interior  of  the  country,  not  temples  and  tombs  alone, 
but  also  constructions  for  general  utility.  Amenemhe't  III.  planned  the 
great  reservoir  in  the  Fevum,  generally  called  Lake  Moeris,  of  which  we 
spoke  in  the  first  chapter.  Literature  and  art  also  flourished. 

The  effect  of  this  prosperity  at  home  was  a development  of  foreign 
power.  For  the  first  time  as  far  as  we  know  the  Egyptians  planned  foreign 
conquests,  and  naturally  enough  they  turned  their  arms  first  against  Nubia. 
It  was  not  the  narrow  arable  valley  of  this  country  which  attracted  them, 
but  the  gold  mines  in  the  desert.  The  rulers  of  the  12th  dynasty  fought 
again  and  again  in  Nubia  for  their  possession,  until  at  last  Usertsen  III. 
erected  a great  frontier  fortress  at  Semneh.  He  was  considered  therefore 
to  be  the  real  conqueror  of  Nubia,  and  five  hundred  years  later,  when 
Thothmes  III.  carried  on  the  same  wars,  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  erect  a 
temple  to  his  great  predecessor.  The  kings  of  the  1 2th  dynasty  had 
constant  intercourse  also  with  Syria  and  South  Arabia,  but  this  always 
seems  to  have  been  of  a peaceful  nature.  In  short,  the  two  hundred  years 
of  the  1 2 th  dynasty  formed  a period  of  such  prosperity,  that  it  is  easy  to 
understand  how  the  later  Egyptians  looked  back  to  it  as  to  a national 
classical  epoch.  The  kings  of  the  1 2th  dynasty  were  considered  to  be  ideal 
wise  rulers,  and  the  language  of  that  time  the  standard  for  good  writing. 

A long  line  of  obscure  kings  followed,  of  whom  we  have  few  monu- 
ments or  buildings.  Probably  a period  of  political  confusion  again  ensued, 
and  the  kingdom  was  shaken  and  divided  by  disputes  about  the  succession. 
During  these  years  of  disorder,  we  must  place  the  famous  invasion  of  the 
Shepherd  Kings,  the  Hyksos  of  the  Greeks.  A foreign  race  of  nomads 
broke  into  the  Delta  from  the  north-east,  and  conquered  Egypt.  We 
have  no  certainty  as  to  their  nationality,  nor  as  to  the  details  of  their 
history  nor  the  duration  of  their  invasion.  We  know  that  their  seat  of 
government  was  at  the  city  of  Hatu'ar  (Avaris),  in  the  eastern  swamps  of 
the  Delta,  and  that  they  served  the  native  god  of  this  district,  Sutech. 

1 Inscription  of  Chuemhotep  at  Beni  Hasan,  L.  D.,  ii.  124,  11.  36-46. 


42 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Events  probably  followed  the  same  course  as  in  similar  barbaric  invasions. 
The  kingdom,  weakened  by  internal  strife,  was  overthrown  with  terrific 
force,  and  when  peace  ensued,  the  Hyksos  probably  found  that  though  they 
could  conquer,  they  could  not  govern  Egypt.  The  old  form  of  govern- 
ment was  then  revived,  and  the  barbarian  garrisons  alone  remained  to 
show  that  the  country  was  in  the  hands  of  foreigners.  The  strength  of 
the  Hyksos  lay  in  their  fortress  on  the  Syrian  frontier  ; the  rulers  resided 
here,  and  were  contented  if  the  provincial  princes  sent  them  rich  tribute. 
After  some  generations  they  naturally  became  civilised,  and  the  later 
Hyksos  were  perhaps  as  good  Egyptians  as  the  descendants  of  Dshingis- 
khan  and  Hulagu  were  good  Mohammedans.  Like  the  latter  too  they 
forfeited  their  power,  for  civilisation  will  kill  a rough  nation  of  nomads 
as  surely  as  the  plants  from  the  desert  die  in  a good  soil.  Had  they  remained 
long  enough  in  Egypt  they  would  no  doubt  have  been  absorbed  into  the 
Egyptian  nation  and  have  left  no  traces.  But  it  happened  otherwise,  and 
they  were  driven  out  of  Egypt  by  force. 

Thebes  was  the  birthplace  of  the  new  kingdom.  There  ruled  here, 
tributary  to  the  Hyksos,  a dynasty  who  may  have  been  the  descendants 
of  the  old  kings.  One  of  these  princes  called  Ta‘a  had  a quarrel  with  one 
of  the  Hyksos  kings  Apopi  (the  same  perhaps  whose  name  is  cut  on  a 
number  of  older  statues  in  Tanis)  ; this  may  have  been  the  beginning  of 
the  war  of  liberation.  When  ‘Ahmose,  the  grandson  of  Ta‘a,  came  to  the 
throne,  nearly  the  whole  of  the  country  was  free,  and  the  country  about 
Hatifar  alone  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Hyksos.  Here  they  made 
a desperate  stand,  and  it  was  oniy  in  the  third  campaign  that  Hatu'ar 
was  taken  by  storm.  ‘Ahmose  made  good  use  of  his  victory,  and  imme- 
diately advanced  eastwards  as  far  as  Sharuhen  in  the  south  of  Palestine. 
This  advance  is  important  as  the  first  step  in  the  direction  afterwards 
pursued  during  some  centuries  by  the  Egyptian  policy.  The  time  of 
conquest,  the  “ New  Empire,”  begins  with  ‘Ahmose.  Egypt  seems  to  have 
gained  strength  like  a field  that  has  lain  fallow  ; she  now  rose  to  such 
great  prosperity  and  power  as  she  had  neither  experienced  before  nor  has 
since.  Her  strength  showed  itself,  not  in  gigantic  buildings  as  in  the 
earlier  days  of  hej*  glory,  but  in  foreign  conquest,  for  these  Pharaohs 
carried  their  arms  as  far  as  the  Euphrates  and  into  the  distant  Sudan. 
Out  of  darkness,  as  it  were,  the  Egyptians  rose  to  be  a power  in  the 
world,  and  the  results  of  this  new  position  were  soon  seen. 

The  Egyptians  came  in  contact  with  foreign  nations  whom  they  had 
looked  down  upon  as  barbarians  ; they  then  found  out  to  their  astonish- 
ment that  their  northern  neighbours  possessed  a civilisation  nearly  equal 
to  their  own.  They  began  to  admire  this  civilisation,  and  soon  it  was 
considered  permissible  to  serve  Ba‘al  and  Astarte,  and  it  became  fashion- 
able to  coquet  with  foreign  Canaanitish  words,  much  in  the  same  way 
as  the  Germans  of  the  last  century  did  with  scraps  of  French. 

The  wars  of  the  1 8th  dynasty  were  next  directed  against  Nubia, 
which  had  to  be  reconquered.  ‘Ahmose  fought  again  and  again  for  the 


Ill 


HISTORY  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


43 


possession  of  Nubia,  and  his  grandson,  Thothmes  I.,  subdued  the  country 
as  far  as  the  third  cataract.  From  this  time  the  “ vile  country  of  Cush  ” was 
formed  into  an  Egyptian  province,  and  gradually  became  civilised  ; yet  at 
the  same  time  it  was  always  under  a separate  government,  and  the  governor 
bore  the  title  of  “ royal  Son  of  Cush,”  and  was  one  of  the  most  important 
officers  in  the  court  of  the  New  Empire.  Amenhotep  I.  fought  against 
the  Libyans  only,  but  his  son,  Thothmes  I.,  besides  his  conquest  of  Nubia, 
undertook  a second  great  campaign  in  the  north.  He  overthrew  the 
whole  of  Palestine  and  Syria,  penetrated  into  Mesopotamia,  and  erected 
a stela  east  of  the  Euphrates  to  tell  posterity  of  his  conquests.  Yet  this 
great  war  had  no  permanent  results,  for,  after  the  king’s  death,  Thothmes 
II.  and  his  sister-consort,  Queen  Ha'tshepsu,  who  succeeded  him,  preferred 
to  abandon  a possession  so  difficult  to  maintain.  According  to  their 
father’s  will  this  king  and  queen  reigned  conjointly,  but  for  how  long  we 
do  not  know,  probably  only  for  a short  time.  When  Thothmes  II.  died, 
Ha'tshepsu  began  her  reign  as  sole  ruler  by  erasing  her  brother’s  name 
from  all  the  monuments,  and  the  suspicion  of  being  concerned  in  the  guilt 
of  her  brother’s  death  probably  does  her  no  injustice.  She  had  a nominal 
co-regent,  a brother  who  was  a minor,  who  later  became  Thothmes  III. 

The  reign  of  this  lady,  the  Egyptian  Catherine  II.,  was  a peaceful 
one  ; her  foreign  achievements  seem  to  have  been  limited  to  the  great 
expedition  to  the  incense  countries  of  the  Red  Sea,  to  which  we  shall 
frequently  have  occasion  to  refer  later.  Her  buildings  were  also  very 
extensive  ; we  must  mention  specially  her  temple  of  Der-el-Bahri  in 
western  Thebes.  There  is  always  a powerful  favourite 
to  be  found  under  similar  queenly  governments  ; in 
this  case  he  seems  to  have  been  a certain  Senmut,  who 
was  originally  an  official  in  the  temple  of  Amon. 

In  the  inscription  on  his  statue  in  the  Berlin  Museum 
he  boasts  that  his  lady-ruler  had  made  him  “ great  in 
both  countries,”  and  “chief  of  the  chiefs”  in  the  whole 
of  Egypt.” 1 

Ha'tshepsu  died  after  a reign  of  twenty  years,  and 
Thothmes  III.  retaliated  on  her  the  wrong  she  had  done  „ 
to  her  elder  brother  ; he  ordered  her  name  to  be 
effaced  from  all  the  monuments,  and  again  we  cannot 
help  suspecting  violence  to  have  been  the  cause  of  the 
change  of  government.  However  that  may  be,  the 
reign  of  Thothmes  III.  forms  a great  epoch  in 
Egyptian  history,  for  this  young  ruler  followed  the  steps 
of  his  fathers  in  the  path  of  conquest.  In  the  twenty-  (Granite  statue  m the 

1 1 y Gizeh  Museum. ) 

second  year  of  his  nominal  regency,  that  is  in  the  first 
year  of  his  actual  government,  he  marched  into  Syria.  He  found  no 
difficulties  in  the  south  of  Palestine,  but  at  Megiddo  to  the  east  of 
Carmel  he  first  met  with  serious  resistance,  viz.  a confederate  army 

1 L.  D. , iii.  25  i. 


44 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAr. 


of  all  the  Syrio- Palestinian  towns  under  the  command  of  the  prince 
of  Kadesh.  A battle  ensued  ; the  Egyptians  gained  the  victory, 
which  was  so  decisive  that  Megiddo  surrendered,  and  the  whole 
country  submitted  to  the  conqueror.  After  this  first  campaign  the 
unwearied  victor  carried  on  at  least  fourteen  others,  by  which  he  finally 
secured  the  sovereignty  of  the  whole  country  southwards  from  the  Amanus, 
as  well  as  west  of  the  Euphrates,  which  stream  he  crossed  with  his  army. 
The  countries  yet  beyond,  eg.  Sangara  (east  of  the  Euphrates,  the  modern 
Sinjar),  Assyria,  Cilicia,  and  Cyprus,  never  belonged  to  him,  and  the  sup- 
posed tributes  he  received  from  them  were  really  voluntary  presents  which 
they  sent  to  their  mighty  neighbour.  In  the  annals  of  Thothmes  III.  we 
first  find  mention  of  the  king  of  the  Cheta,  whose  capital  Kadesh  was 
conquered  by  the  Egyptian  monarch  in  his  sixth  campaign  ; about  a 
century  later  this  same  people  succeeded  to  the  political  position  in  anterior 
Asia  which  Egypt  had  formerly  occupied. 

Wars  seem  to  have  been  carried  on  in  the  south  at  the  same  time  as 
in  Syria,  and  the  frontiers  of  the  kingdom  were  extended  southwards  into 
the  Sudan.  Thothmes  III.  also  erected  great  buildings,  upon  which  he 
employed  his  prisoners  of  war,  and  we  can  easily  understand  what  a 
mighty  hero  he  appeared  to  posterity.  More  than  one  later  king  esteemed 

it  an  honour  to  assume  his  prenomen  Ra'-men-choper,  and  it 

was  also  thought  to  be  a lucky  device,  and 
used  as  a seal  1 by  private  individuals  during 
the  19th  dynasty.  A happy  chance  has 
preserved  to  us  the  body  of  this  great  con- 
queror, and  we  see  that,  like  Napoleon,  he 
was  of  small  stature. 

His  son  Amenhotep  II.  and  his  grandson, 
Thothmes  IV.,  who  neither  of  them  reigned 
long,  kept  the  kingdom  together,  energetically 
repressing  any  attempts  at  foreign  rebellion. 
Amenhotep  III.,  his  great-grandson,  ruled 
over  all  the  countries  from  Ethiopia  to  the 
Euphrates,  and  in  time  this  vast  empire 
might  have  become  a compact  kingdom  had 
not  disorders  broken  out  in  Egypt  after  the 
death  of  Amenhotep  III.,  which  made  it  impossible  to  keep  up  the 
Syrian  possessions.  This  confusion  was  not  due  to  disputes  about  the 
succession,  which  is  the  usual  cause  of  political  trouble  in  the  east,  but 
to  an  attempt  to  reform  the  Egyptian  religion. 

The  old  religion  of  Egypt  consisted,  broadly  speaking,  of  the  worship 
of  the  great  solar  gods.  Re‘,  Horus,  Atum,  Osiris,  were  all  different  con- 
ceptions of  the  sun-god,  either  as  the  giver  of  life,  or  as  the  disperser  of 

1 Three  letters  of  a certain  Mery'etf  (Leyden,  i.  365-367)  are  sealed  in  this  way,  and  the  number 
of  scarabsei  engraved  with  this  name  are  countless. 


AMENHOTEP  III.  FROM  HIS  TOMB. 
(From  Champollion.) 


Ill 


HISTORY  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


45 


darkness,  or  as  a being  dying  to-day  but  rising  again  on  the  morrow.  In 
one  locality  the  people  preferred  to  call  their  god  Re‘,  in  another  Horus, 
in  a third  Osiris  ; different  customs  were  developed  in  the  various  temples, 
and  different  legends  were  connected  with  the  individual  forms  of  the 
deity.  In  this  way  the  sun-god  in  the  Egyptian  religion  had  been  divided 
into  various  parts,  and  these  became  separate  gods  in  the  eyes  of  the 
people.  It  could  scarcely  be  otherwise,  for  the  myths  relating  to  Horus 
differed  entirely  from  those  of  Re‘  or  of  Osiris.  Yet  even  in  early  times 
the  educated  class  believed  these  deities  to  be  essentially  identical,  and  the 
priests  did  not  shut  their  eyes  to  this  doctrine,  but  strove  to  grasp  the  idea  of 
the  one  god,  divided  into  different  persons  by  poesy  and  myth.  Under  the 
New  Empire  Re‘,  Atum,  Horus,  and  Osiris  were  but  varying  names  for 
the  one  god.  In  order  to  perfect  their  religious  system,  they  even  carried 
these  ideas  yet  further,  and  identified  with  the  Sun-god,  gods  who  had 
really  nothing  in  common  with  him,  eg.  Amon  the  god  of  the  harvest,  or 
Sobk  the  water-god.  As  is  usual  in  the  decadence  of  all  religions,  the 
boundary  lines  between  the  divinities  were  removed,  and  the  deity  was 
addressed  by  his  worshippers  in  the  same  breath  as  Re‘  or  as  Amon, 
as  Atum  or  as  Horus.  The  priesthood,  how- 
ever, had  not  the  courage  to  take  the  final  step, 
to  do  away  with  those  distinctions,  which  they 
declared  to  be  immaterial,  and  to  adore  the  one 
god  under  one  name.  They  went  on  in  a 
conventional  way,  keeping  up  the  worship  of  all 
the  individual  gods  as  well  as  the  most  trivial 
customs  of  ruder  ages.  It  is  easy  to  imagine 
how  many  were  the  contradictions  which  arose. 

An  Egyptian  king,  Amenhotep  IV.,  the  son 
of  Amenhotep  III.  and  of  Oueen  Tye,  who 
seems  to  have  played  an  important  part  at  her 
son’s  court,  now  attempted  to  take  the  final  step, 
and,  in  place  of  the  confusion  of  the  numerous 
gods  of  a bygone  age,  he  tried  to  set  up  the  Sun- 
god  as  the  one  really  living  god.  How  the 
young  king  extricated  himself  from  the  supersti- 
tious reverence  for  the  faith  of  his  fathers  we  know 
not,  his  portrait  shows  us  that  he  had  not  good  health,  and  it  may  be  that 
the  fanaticism  with  which  he  set  to  work  on  this  meritorious  reformation 
was  due  to  bodily  weakness.  He  introduced  the  worship  of  the  sun  as 
the  one  god,  and  following  probably  the  teaching  of  Heliopolis,  he  called  this 
god  Re‘  Harmachis,  or  more  commonly  ’Eten,  the  “ Sun  disk.”  Had 
he  been  content  to  establish  this  worship  officially  only,  to  introduce 
it  gradually,  and  to  let  time  do  its  work,  his  efforts  might  have  been 
crowned  with  success  ; but  he  tried  violence,  and  therefore  his  innovation, 
in  spite  of  momentary  results,  had  no  duration.  He  endeavoured  to 
exterminate  all  remembrance  of  the  old  gods,  and  especially  he  declared 


amenhotep  IV.  (Statue  in 
Louvre — from  Chipiez). 


46 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


war  against  the  great  god  of  his  ancestors,  Amon,  whose  name  he  erased 
from  all  the  monuments.  He  changed  his  old  name  containing  the  name 
of  Amon  to  Chu-en-’eten,  the  “ splendour  of  the  disk,”  and  as  the  capital, 
where  his  famous  forefathers  had  lived,  was  filled  with  memorials  in  honour 
of  Amon,  the  puritan  king  resolved  to  live  no  longer  in  such  an  idolatrous 
place  ; he  therefore  forsook  Thebes,  and  built  a new  town,  the  “ Horizon 
of  the  Sun’s  disk,”  near  the  modern  Tell  el  Amarna.  We  know  not 
how  long  he  resided  here  with  his  mother  Tye,  his  consort  Neferteyte,  and 


chu-en-’eten,  his  consort,  and  his  six  daughters  make  offerings  to  the  sun’s  disk. 

Rays  of  light  ending  in  hands  descend  to  the  king.  The  inscriptions  give  the  names 
and  titles  of  the  god,  and  of  the  royal  family. 


his  seven  daughters.  The  representations  in  the  tombs  there  to  which 
we  shall  often  refer)  show  us  that  splendid  buildings  were  erected,  and 
a brilliant  court  was  held  in  the  new  capital. 

When  Chu-en-’eten  died,  he  was  succeeded  in  the  first  place  by  his 
son-in-law,  S'aanacht,  and  then  by  his  favourite,  the  priest  ’Ey,  who  had 
been  a zealous  adherent  of  the  new  religion.  The  latter,  on  ascending 
the  throne,  thought  it  wiser  to  retire  from  the  conflict  with  the  priest- 
hood ; he  therefore  returned  to  Thebes  and  made  his  peace  with  the  old 
gods  ; notwithstanding  this  he  was  overthrown,  and  another  son-in-law 
of  Chu-en-’eten,  Tuet’anchamun,  a proselyte,  succeeded  to  the  throne,  only 
however,  soon  to  be  set  aside  for  a yet  more  powerful  ruler,  the  great  king 
Har-em-heb,  who  energetically  put  down  the  reformation,  and  razed  to  the 
ground  the  buildings  erected  by  the  heretic.  We  shall  always  lament 


Ill 


HISTORY  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


47 


the  sad  end  to  Chu-en-’eten’s  reformation ; for  though  it  was  a good  thing 
for  the  country  that  the  state  of  disorder  should  cease,  yet  this  victory  of 
the  old  orthodox  party  sealed  the  fate  of  the  Egyptian  religion, — no  one 
again  attempted  a reformation,  and  the  religious  conceptions  of  the  nation 
were  narrowed. 

The  successors  of  Har-em-heb,  the  kings  of  the  19th  dynasty,  sought 
to  re-establish  the  Egyptian  power  in  the  north,  but  they  encountered 
much  greater  difficulties  than  their  predecessors  of  the  1 8th  dynasty.  It 
appears  that  during  the  time  of  the  religious  disturbances,  whilst  Egypt 
was  unable  to  maintain  her  possessions  in  Syria,  the  Cheta  had  made 
good  use  of  the  favourable  moment,  and  had  succeeded  there  to  the  poli- 
tical heritage  of  the  Pharaohs.  The  Cheta  at  this  time  must  have  been 
an  important  nation,  for  they  had  gained  possession  of  Syria,  the  north  of 
Mesopotamia,  and  the  greater  part  of  Asia  Minor.  We  know  little  for 
certain  about  them  ; their  name  appears  to  indicate  that  their  language 
was  not  Semitic,  but  their  religion  seems  to  have  been  that  dominant  in 
Syria.  They  are  the  Chatti  of  Assyrian  lore,  who  had  their  capital  in 
later  times  on  the  Euphrates  ; the  semi-legendary  Chittim  of  the  Old 
Testament  also  probably  signify  the  Cheta.  At  the  time  of  which  we 
are  now  speaking  they  were  a highly  civilised  nation,  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  systematic  excavations  in 
north  Syria  may  add  greatly  to  our 
number  of  monuments  and  inscrip- 
tions of  the  Cheta  kings.  The  few 
that  have  been  found  show  us  that 
this  nation  wrote  in  hieroglyphics 
something  like  the  Egyptian,  but  that 
their  art  was  influenced  rather  by 
the  Assyrio-Babylonian.  Thus  the 
Egyptians  found  at  this  time  a 
powerful  kingdom  opposed  to  them, 
instead  of  a number  of  small  states, 
and  we  are  therefore  not  surprised 
to  learn  that  these  wars  were  far  less 
successful  than  those  of  Thothmes 
III. 

Sety  I.,  the  second  king  of  the  1 9th 
dynasty,  began  the  campaign  ; in 
the  first  year  of  his  reign  he  fought 
against  the  Beduins  dwelling  between 
Egypt  and  Canaan,  and  thus  opened 
the  way  to  north  Palestine,  which 
submitted  to  him.  Here  Mutenr,  the  king  of  the  Cheta,  met  him,  and  it 
is  doubtful  whether,  as  the  results  were  so  insignificant,  the  war  actually 
ended  in  such  great  victories  as  are  described  by  the  Egyptian  inscriptions. 
The  Egyptian  king  also  seems  to  have  made  little  way  in  the  south  of 


SETIY  i.  (relief  at  Abydos). 


48 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Palestine.  Later  in  his  reign  he  had  to  fight  for  the  western  frontier  of 
Egypt  against  the  Libyans,  who  with  the  barbaric  tribes  of  the  islands  and 
the  coast-lands  of  the  Mediterranean,  the  Shardana,  the  Shakarusha,etc.,  had 
made  an  incursion  into  the  west  of  the  Delta.  Sety  beat  them,  and  thus 
the  danger  was  averted,  though  only  for  a time.  His  son  Ramses  II.,  on 
his  accession,  again  led  his  forces  against  the  Cheta  kingdom.  He  spent  the 
first  years  of  his  reign  in  subjecting  Palestine,  and  then  turned  his  arms 
against  the  Cheta  themselves.  Their  king  had  collected  together  all  the 
forces  of  his  kingdom  and  a powerful  army  of  confederates  ; he  made  a 
stand  at  Kadesh  on  the  Orontes.  In  the  fifth  year  of  Ramses  II.  there 
was  a great  battle,  which,  although  at  first  unlucky  for  the  Egyptians,  was 
finally  won  by  the  personal  bravery  of  the  young  ruler.  At  the  same 
time  it  was  not  a decisive  victory,  for  the  war  was  continued  several  years 
longer  with  varying  success.  At  one  time  we  find  the  Egyptian  king  in 
Mesopotamia,  but  at  another  time  he  is  fighting  close  to  his  own  frontier 
and  storming  Askelon.  At  last,  in  the  twenty-first  year  of  his  reign,  he 
concluded  not  merely  a peace,  but  a treaty,  with  Chetasar  the  king  of  the 
Cheta.  Egypt  kept  the  south  of  Palestine,  but  the  kingdom  of  the  Cheta 
was  treated  as  an  equal  power.  This  ente7ite  covdiale  was  maintained,  and 
thirteen  years  later  Chetasar  visited  his  Egyptian  ally,  and  his  daughter 
became  one  of  the  principal  consorts  of  the  Pharaoh.  A busy  peaceful 
intercourse  soon  developed  between  the  two  kingdoms  ; Egyptian  civilisa- 
tion was  brought  closer  to  the  tribes  of  anterior  Asia,  whilst  the  Egyptians 
themselves  were  influenced  more  and  more  by  their  Canaanite  neighbours. 

Ramses  II.  reigned  forty-six  years  after  this  conclusion  of  peace,  and 
he  made  great  and  good  use  of  his  time.  No  king  of  Egypt  built  as 
much  as  he  did  ; from  Tanis  to  the  deserts  of  Nubia  numberless  temples 
were  erected  by  him,  and  it  is  said  (it  is  difficult  to  say  with  how  much 
truth)  that  half  of  all  the  Egyptian  buildings  that  remain  to  us  may  be 
ascribed  to  him.  He  seems  specially  to  have  loved  building  in  the 
east  of  the  Delta,  at  the  town  called  after  him,  “ the  house  of  Ramses,”  or, 
according  to  the  official  title,  “ the  house  of  Ramses,  the  beloved  of  Amon, 
the  great  image  of  the  sun-god.”  Here  he  had  his  seat  of  government 
close  to  the  Syrian  frontier  ; this  change  of  residence  is  easily  explained 
by  the  new  political  conditions  of  the  kingdom. 

When  Ramses  II.  died,  he  had  not  only  outlived  thirteen  of  his  sons, 
but  also,  as  it  would  appear,  the  glory  of  his  kingdom.  The  country  was, 
however,  still  able  to  withstand  one  blow  from  without.  In  the  fifth 
year  of  Merenptah,  his  fourteenth  son,  who  succeeded  him,  hordes  of  the 
above-mentioned  Mediterranean  tribes  broke  into  the  east  of  the  Delta, 
and  at  the  same  time  Maraju,  the  king  of  the  Libyans,  marched  into 
Egypt.  Merenptah  beat  both  armies,  which  had  joined  forces  near  the 
town  of  Per-’er-shepes. 

Soon  afterwards  the  Egyptian  king  died  ; his  son,  Sety  II.,  not  being 
able  to  withstand  his  internal  foes,  there  followed  a time  of  confusion  and 
conflict  about  the  throne.  Several  pretenders  were  set  up,  but  not  one 


RAMSES  II.  STATUE  AT  TURIN. 

AFTER  PERROT-CHIP1EZ.  DRAWN  BY  WILKE. 


[To  face  page  48. 


Ill 


HISTORY  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


49 


arrogance, 


and 


sety  ii.  (Statue  in  the 


was  able  to  maintain  the  upper  hand  ; therefore,  as  so  frequently  happened 
in  Egypt,  there  ensued  “ many  years  in  which  the  country  of  Egypt  was 
governed  by  princes  who  killed  each  other  in  pride  and 
did  after  their  own  pleasure,  for  they  had  no  chief.” 

’Ersu,  a prince  of  Syrian  descent,  succeeded,  “ in  the 
years  of  famine,”  in  subjecting  the  other  rulers,  and 
in  making  the  whole  country  pay  tribute.  The  son 
of  his  opponent  tells  us  with  pious  horror  that  under 
him  one  joined  with  another  in  making  piratical 
incursions,  and  “ they  treated  the  gods  as  they 
treated  men,  no  one  brought  any  offerings  into  the 
temples.”1  ’Ersu  in  fact,  relying  on  his  strength, 
had  ventured  to  touch  the  temple  revenues,  and  had 
in  that  way  fallen  under  the  displeasure  of  the  priest- 
hood, who  now  supported  one  of  his  rivals  named 
Setnacht.  In  official  language  we  read  : “ the  gods 
placed  their  son,  born  of  the  gods,  on  their  great 
throne  as  prince  of  the  whole  country.  He  was  as 
the  god  Chepr’e-Set,  when  he  is  angry.  He  organised 
the  whole  country,  which  had  been  in  confusion. 

He  slew  the  enemies  who  had  been  in  the  country 
and  when  he  had  attained  to  power,  he  “ provided 
the  temples  with  sacred  revenues,”  and  thus  attached 
the  priesthood  to  his  cause. 

Ramses  III.,  the  first  king  of  the  20th  dynasty, 
reaped  the  reward  of  the  work  of  his  father  Setnacht  ; his  reign,  which 
lasted  thirty-three  years,  was  apparently  equalled  by  few  in  splendour.  His 
own  wish  was  to  emulate  the  fame  of  Ramses  II.  ; he  therefore  named  all 
his  sons  after  those  of  his  great  predecessor,  and  gave  to  each  the  same  office 
in  the  state  which  those  had  held  before.  A prince  Cha‘emuese  was  again 
high  priest  of  Memphis,  and  a prince  Meryatum  high  priest  of  Heliopolis." 
He  won  over  the  priesthood  by  endowing  them  with  large  presents  and  im- 
mense buildings;  he  re-established  the  old  worship  everywhere,  “ he  created 
truth  and  abolished  lies.”  He  reorganised  the  mining  operations  in  the 
Peninsula  of  Sinai,  as  well  as  the  expeditions  to  the  incense  countries.  He 
was  also  a great  warrior.  In  the  same  way  as  under  Sety  I.  and  Merenptah 
II.,  the  Libyans,  during  the  late  time  of  confusion,  had  taken  possession  of 
the  west  of  the  Delta,  and  at  this  time  they  occupied  the  country  as  far 
as  the  neighbourhood  of  Memphis.  Ramses  III.  attacked  them  in  the 
fifth  and  eleventh  years  of  his  reign,  and  subdued  them.  In  the  interval 
between  these  two  wars  a yet  more  serious  danger  threatened  the  country. 

The  pirates  of  the  sea,  who  had  already  made  several  descents  into 
Egypt,  the  Shardana,  the  Turusha,  and  the  Shakarusha,  with  some  other 
tribes,  were  again  in  a disturbed  state  ; they  had  overrun  North  Syria  in 
a real  national  migration.  They  travelled  with  their  wives  and  their 

1 Harris,  I.  75.  2 A.  Z.,  1883,  pp.  60,  61. 

E 


Louvre). 

Chipiez. 


From  Perrot- 


5° 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


goods  partly  by  land  in  bullock  waggons,  and  partly  by  water  in  stately 
ships.  They  seem  to  have  overthrown  the  kingdom  of  the  Chcta,  which 
from  this  time  disappears  from  Egyptian  history,  but  in  Palestine  they  were 
met  by  Ramses  III.  in  the  eighth  year  of  his  reign,  and  vanquished  both 
by  land  and  by  sea.  This  is  the  last  time  that  we  hear  of  incursions  made 
by  the  Libyans  and  the  seafolk  ; they  probably  never  again  renewed  their 
attempts  on  Egypt.  They  had  already  obtained  a footing  in  the  country 
in  another  way,  for  since  the  time  of  Ramses  II.  the  Egyptian  army  con- 
sisted in  great  part  of  mercenary  Shardana  and  Libyan  soldiers,  whose 
leaders  gradually  became  a power  in  the  state. 

We  know  very  little  of  the  nine  kings  who  succeeded  Ramses  III. 
They  all  bore  the  name  of  Ramses,  and  were  some  of  them  his  sons. 
Most  of  them  were  but  tools  in  the  hands  of  the  two  existing  powers, 
the  mighty  priesthood  and  the  foreign  mercenaries.  The  former  were  the 
first  to  gain  the  supremacy,  for  about  a century  after  the  time  of  Ramses 
III.,  Hrihor,  the  high  priest  of  Amon  of  Thebes,  forced  the  last  of  the 
Ramessides  to  abdicate  in  his  favour.  The  priest-kings  maintained  them- 
selves on  the  throne  for  about  a century,  after  which,  under  the  great 
king  Sheshonk,  the  government  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Libyans, 
whose  chiefs  had  already  played  a powerful  part  in  the  state.  PTom  this 
time  Egypt  became  completely  Libyanised,  Libyan  governors  ruled  in 
all  the  towns,  and  even  the  high  priests  of  Thebes  and  Memphis  were 
Libyans. 

The  adherents  of  the  old  priest-kings  seem  to  have  fled  into  Ethiopia, 
where  about  this  time  there  arose  an  independent  kingdom  with  Egyptian 
civilisation,  in  which  the  priestly  power  was  so  supreme  that  the  king 
himself  was  obliged  to  bow  to  it.  Two  hundred  years  later,  728  B.C., 
king  Shabaka  left  his  capital  Napata,  situated  in  the  19th  degree  of  lati- 
tude, and  completed  the  conquest  of  the  whole  of  Egypt,  the  southern 
part  of  which  had  been  for  centuries  in  the  possession  of  the  Ethiopians. 
Shabaka  would  gladly  have  advanced  still  further,  and  have  penetrated 
into  Syria,  but  the  power  of  the  Assyrians,  which  was  then  pre-eminent 
there,  caused  his  schemes  to  miscarry. 

There  now  began  the  conflict  between  the  Assyrian  and  the  Egypto- 
Ethiopian  kingdom.  The  campaigns  were  at  first  fought  with  varying 
success  in  Syria,  but  at  last  the  Assyrians,  under  Asarhaddon,  marched 
into  Egypt  and  conquered  the  country  as  far  as  Thebes,  and  the  governors 
of  the  towns  became  the  vassals  of  the  great  king  of  Assyria.  Twice  the 
Assyrians  were  driven  out  by  the  Ethiopians,  but  they  again  succeeded 
in  re-entering  the  country,  and  in  the  year  662  B.C.  Egypt  became  an 
Assyrian  province.  Their  power,  however,  did  not  last  long,  for  in  654  B.C. 
prince  Psammetichus,  who  was  descended  from  the  Libyan  chiefs  of 
Sais,  succeeded,  with  the  help  of  his  Greek  mercenaries,  in  driving  the 
Assyrians  out  of  Egypt. 

Psammetichus  was  the  founder  of  the  famous  26th  dynasty,  under  which 
Egypt  rose  again  to  prosperity  after  the  troubles  she  had  suffered  during 


Ill 


HISTORY  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


5i 


the  last  centuries.  The  illustrious  names  of  Psammetichus,  Necho,  and 
Amasis,  are  known  to  every  reader  of  Herodotos.  On  one  hand  these 
kings  favoured  the  settlements  of  the  Greeks,  and  on  the  other  they 
endeavoured  to  re-establish  the  ancient  Egyptian  government.  They  tried 
to  link  themselves  with  the  Old  Empire  by  using  the  same  royal  titles, 
the  same  language,  and  even  the  same  orthography  in  the  inscriptions. 
Art  revived  again,  but  though  the  works  of  art  of  this  time  possess  great 
elegance  and  prettiness,  yet  the  spirit  is  dead  within  them,  and  we  feel 
that  the  men  who  created  them  were  leading  an  artificial  life. 

The  26th  dynasty  is  in  fact  therefore  a renaissance  period  ; people 
attempted  consciously  to  revive  a civilisation  belonging  to  the  past.  1 his 
dream  of  a new  kingdom  of  the  Pharaohs  lasted  barely  a century  ; Cam- 
byses  attacked  it  in  the  year  525  B.C.,  and  it  collapsed  at  the  first  blow. 


Egypt  next  became  a Persian  province  ; several  rebellions  were  cruelly 
suppressed,  and  the  country  was  entirely  ruined.  Egypt  was  afterwards 
subdued  by  Alexander,  and  at  the  division  of  his  empire  fell  to  the 
share  of  Ptolemy  and  his  family  ; finally,  in  the  year  30  B.C.,  the  country 
became  a Roman  province. 

During  this  long  period  of  foreign  rule  the  priesthood  kept  up  the 
fiction  of  the  existence  of  an  independent  Egyptian  kingdom.  Darius 
and  Alexander,  Ptolemy  and  Hadrian,  are  all  regarded  in  the  temples  as 
true  Pharaohs.  Even  in  the  year  250  B.C.,  Decius  is  spoken  of  as 
Pharaoh  in  a hieroglyphic  inscription,  written  at  a time  when  the  greater 
part  of  the  Egyptian  nation  had  embraced  Christianity. 

We  intend  in  this  work  to  consider  only  the  three  periods  of  ancient 
Egyptian  history,  the  Old,  the  Middle,  and  the  New  Empire  ; the  con- 
stitution of  the  Egypt  of  later  centuries,  of  Egypt  under  the  Libyans,  the 


PRINCE  MR'EB,  SON  OF  KING  CHUFLT 

(L.  D.,  ii.  20  f. ) 


PRINCE  MENT'UHERCHOPSHEF,  SON  OF 

ramses  in.  (L.  D.,  ii.  217  a.) 


52 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP.  Ill 


Ethiopians,  the  Assyrians,  the  Persians,  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  is  too 
complicated  for  us  to  treat  of  together  with  the  Egypt  of  older  days.  Yet 
in  limiting  ourselves  to  the  time  between  the  4th  and  the  2 1st  dynasty,  we 
have  at  least  eighteen  centuries  to  review,  that  is,  a period  equal  to  that 
which  divides  the  modern  Romans  from  those  of  the  time  of  the  emperors. 

We  can  well  understand  that  it  was  impossible  that  these  ages  should 
pass  over  the  Egyptian  people  without  leaving  some  traces  ; and  indeed 
if  a courtier  of  the  palace  of  Chufu  could  by  a miracle  have  visited  the 
court  of  Ramses  III.,  he  would  have  believed  himself  to  be  in  a foreign 
country.  No  one  would  have  understood  his  speech,  the  learned  alone 
could  have  deciphered  his  writing,  and  his  attire  would  only  have  been 
recognised  from  the  representations  of  the  gods  or  from  the  statues  of  the 
kings.  I must  now  beg  my  readers  to  keep  in  mind  the  following  fact  : 
in  point  of  time  the  Old  Empire  is  as  far  removed  from  the  New 
Empire  as  are  the  times  of  King  Arthur,  the  hero  of  romance,  from  the 
more  prosaic  days  of  Queen  Victoria. 


NECHEBT,  THE  PATRON  GODDESS  OF  THE  KING. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  KING  AND  HIS  COURT 

The  idea  of  a state,  as  bequeathed  to  the  world  by  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,  was  as  strange  to  the  mind  of  Eastern  nations  of  old  as  it  still 
is  to  that  of  the  modern  Oriental. 

In  the  East  the  idea  prevailed,  and  still  exists,  that  the  whole 
machinery  of  the  state  is  set  in  motion  by  the  will  of  the  ruler  alone  ; 
the  taxes  are  paid  to  fill  his  treasury,  wars  are  undertaken  for  his 
renown,  and  great  buildings  are  erected  for  his  honour.  All  the  property 
of  the  country  is  his  by  right,  and  if  he  allows  any  of  his  people  to  share 
it,  it  is  only  as  a loan,  which  he  can  reclaim  at  any  moment.  His 
subjects  also  belong  to  him,  and  he  can  dispose  of  their  lives  at  his  will. 

This  is  merely  the  theoretical  view,  which  is  impossible  to  carry  out 
in  practice,  for  the  king,  though  supposed  to  dispose  of  everything  as  a 
god,  is  rarely  able  to  act  independently.  It  is  true  that  the  great  body 
of  the  nation,  now  such  an  important  element  in  the  modern  state,  was 
unrecognised  in  old  times  ; yet  other  factors  existed  which  could  render 
a ruler  powerless,  however  absolute  he  might  appear  to  be. 

Around  the  king  were  the  old  counsellors  who  had  served  his  father, 
and  whom  the  clerks  and  officials  were  accustomed  blindly  to  obey,  as 
well  as  the  generals  with  the  troops  in  their  pay,  and  the  priesthood  with 
their  unlimited  power  over  the  lower  classes.  In  the  small  towns  the 
old  rich  families  of  the  nobility,  residing  in  their  country  seats,  were 
nearer  to  the  homes  of  the  people  than  the  monarch  dwelling  in  his 
distant  capital.  The  king  was  afraid  to  offend  any  of  these  powerful 
people  ; he  had  to  spare  the  sensitive  feelings  of  the  minister  ; discover 
a way  of  gratifying  the  ambition  of  the  general  without  endangering  the 
country  ; watch  carefully  that  his  officers  did  not  encroach  on  the  rights 
of  the  nobility  ; and  above  all  keep  in  favour  with  the  priests.  It  was 
only  when  the  king  could  satisfy  all  these  claims,  and  understand  at  the 
same  time  how  to  play  off  one  party  against  another,  that  he  could 


54 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


expect  a long  and  prosperous  reign.  If  he  failed,  his  chances  were  small, 
for  there  lurked  close  to  him  his  most  dangerous  enemies,  his  nearest 
relatives.  There  always  existed  a brother  or  an  uncle,  who  imagined  he 
had  a better  claim  to  the  throne  than  the  reigning  king,  or  there  were 
the  wives  of  the  late  ruler,  who  thought  it  a fatal  wrong  that  the  child  of 
their  rival  rather  than  their  own  son  should  have  inherited  the  crown. 
During  the  lifetime  of  the  king  they  pretended  to  submit,  but  they  waited 
anxiously  for  the  moment  to  throw  off  the  mask.  They  understood  well 
how  to  intrigue,  and  to  aggravate  any  misunderstanding  between  the  king 
and  his  counsellors  or  his  generals,  until  at  last  one  of  them,  who  thought 
himself  slighted  or  injured,  proceeded  to  open  rebellion,  and  began  the 
war  by  proclaiming  one  of  the  pretenders  as  the  only  true  king,  who  had 
wrongfully  been  kept  from  the  throne.  The  result  was  always  the  same; 
the  others  admired  the  boldness  of  their  rival  and  hastened  to  imitate  it, 
until  there  were  as  many  pretenders  as  there  were  parties  in  the  kingdom. 
It  made  little  difference  who  won  in  the  fight,  he  made  his  way  to  the 
throne  through  the  blood  of  his  opponents,  and  then  began  a struggle  with 
those  who  had  helped  him.  If  he  possessed  good  luck  and  energy  he  was 
able  to  clear  them  out  of  his  way  ; otherwise  he  became  a tool  in  the  hands 
of  those  around  him,  who,  at  the  first  sign  of  independence,  would  cause 
him  to  be  murdered  and  place  a more  docile  ruler  on  the  throne  in  his  place. 

In  the  meantime,  in  those  parts  of  the  country  where  there  was  no 
civil  war,  events  followed  their  peaceful  course — the  labourer  worked  in 
his  field,  and  the  clerk  in  his  office,  with  oriental  indifference  as  if  nothing 
were  happening.  The  people  however  felt  it  bitterly  when  the  govern- 
ment was  weak.  The  taxes  were  raised,  and  were  gathered  in  irregularly 
to  satisfy  the  greed  of  the  soldiers,  the  officials  became  more  shameless 
in  their  extortions  and  caprices,  and  the  public  buildings,  the  canals  and 
the  dykes,  fell  into  decay.  Under  these  circumstances  the  nobility  and 
priesthood  alone  flourished  ; when  no  central  power  existed  they  became 
more  and  more  independent,  and  were  able  to  obtain  fresh  concessions 
and  gifts  from  each  new  claimant.  The  next  powerful  ruler  had  to  spend 
long  in  reducing  the  country  into  order,  and  even  then  he  could  not 
flatter  himself  that  his  work  would  endure,  for  in  the  East  the  same 
fate  awaited  each  ruling  family. 

The  troublous  conditions  which  we  have  sketched  from  the  Oriental 
history  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  in  force  at  all  periods  in  ancient  Egypt. 
The  inscriptions  may  lead  us  to  believe  that  an  ideal  kingdom  existed  in 
that  country— a kingdom  where,  surrounded  by  his  dear  friends  and 
wise  princes,  a good  god  cared  like  a father  for  his  country ; was 
adored  by  his  subjects;  feared  by  his  enemies;  and  revered  by  the  priests 
as  the  “true  son  of  the  Sun-god”;  when  we  look  closer  however  we  see  the 
same  fatal  conditions  which  ever  had  such  evil  results  in  Eastern  history. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  the  reader  will  have  seen  how  frequently 
there  occurred  periods  of  political  disorder,  yet  our  knowledge  is  confined 
to  those  of  long  duration,  we  know  scarcely  anything  of  the  short  dis- 


IV 


THE  KING  AND  HIS  COURT 


33 


putes  about  the  succession  to  the  crown.  The  kings  who  made  war  on 
each  other,  were  generally  mere  puppets  in  the  hands  of  ambitious  men, 
as  we  see  by  an  inscription  of  a certain  Bay,  chief  treasurer  to  the  King 
Septah  of  the  1 9th  dynasty,  in  which  Bay  boasts  quite  openly  that  he 
“ had  established  the  king  on  the  throne  of  his  fathers.”  1 * 

Even  powerful  rulers  lived  in  constant  danger  from  their  own  relatives, 
as  is  shown  by  the  protocol  of  a trial  for  high  treason  of  the  time  of  Ramses 
III.  The  reign  of  this  king  was  certainly  a most  brilliant  one,  the  country 
was  at  last  at  peace,  and  the  priesthood  had  been  won  by  the  building 
of  great  temples  and  by  immense  presents.  All  appeared  propitious,  yet 
even  in  this  reign  those  fatal  under-currents  were  at  work  which  caused 
the  speedy  downfall  of  each  dynasty,  and  it  was  perhaps  due  only  to  a 
happy  chance  that  this  king  escaped.  A conspiracy  broke  out  in  his  own 
harem  headed  by  a distinguished  lady  of  the  name  of  Tey,  who  was  certainly 
of  royal  blood,  and  indeed  may  have  been  either  his  mother  or  stepmother.1’ 
We  know  not  which  prince  had  been  chosen  as  aspirant  for  the  crown 
(in  the  papyrus  he  is  only  mentioned  by  a pseudonym),  but  we  see  how 
far  the  matter  had  progressed  before  discovery,  by  the  letters  of  the 
ladies  of  the  harem  to  their  mothers  and  brothers  : “ Excite  the  people, 
and  stir  up  those  who  bear  enmity  to  begin  hostilities  against  the  king.” 
One  of  the  ladies  wrote  to  her  brother,  who  was  commanding  the  army 
in  Ethiopia,  and  ordered  him  explicitly  to  come  and  fight  against  the  king.3 
When  we  see  how  many  high  officials  had  taken  part  or  were  cognisant 
of  this  conspiracy  we  realise  the  seriousness  of  this  danger  to  all  eastern 
kingdoms.  I have  intentionally  represented  the  adverse  side  of  this  form 
of  government  ; and  I would  ask  the  reader  always  to  remember  that, 
behind  all  the  pomp  and  splendour  which  surrounded  the  Egyptian  king 
and  his  court,  conditions  probably  lay  hidden  no  better  than  those 
described  above. 

The  dignity  of  king  in  Egypt  goes  back  to  prehistoric  ages.  The 
insignia  of  the  Pharaohs  evidently  belong  to  a time  when  the  Egyptians 
wore  nothing  but  the  girdle  of  the  negro,  and  when  it  was  considered  a 
special  distinction  that  the  king  should  complete  this  girdle  with  a piece 
of  skin  or  matting  in  front,  and  should  adorn  it  behind  with  a lion’s  tail. 
We  know  not  how  long  elapsed  before  this  chief  of  a half-savage  race 
became  the  divine  Pharaoh,  nor  can  we  now  determine  what  wars  pre- 
ceded the  gradual  union  of  the  separate  Egyptian  provinces  into  one 
state.  We  know  only  that  before  the  time  of  the  Old  Empire  there  must 
have  been  a long  period  in  which  Egypt  was  divided  into  two  states,  the 
south  and  the  north,  or  as  they  are  called  in  the  Egyptian  formal  style, 
“ the  two  countries.”  Both  must  have  been  powerful  states  equal  in 
importance,  so  that  there  was  no  question  of  the  incorporation  of  the  one 
into  the  other  ; and  after  the  union  both  remained  independent,  only 

1 L.  D. , iii.  202  a,  c. 

The  consort  of  his  father  at  any  rate  bears  this  same  name,  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1170. 

3 V).  T.,4,  2;  5,  3. 


56 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


connected  by  that  doubtful  bond  called  personal  union.  The  king  of 
Egypt  might  call  himself  lord  of  both  countries , or  the  uniter  of  the  tzuo 
countries , or  as  in  later  times  the  Ruler  of  Egypt , yet  his  official  title  was 
always  the  “ King  of  Upper  Egypt  and  the  King  of  Lower  Egypt.” 
It  was  the  same  with  the  titles  of  his  servants  ; originally  they  were  the 
superintendents  of  the  two  houses  of  silver,  or  of  the  two  storehouses, 
for  each  kingdom  had  its  own  granary  and  its  own  treasury.  Such  a 
personal  union  could  not  last  ; even  in  Egypt  it  soon  became  a fiction, 
though  it  was  kept  up  at  all  times  in  the  titles  of  the  king. 

The  royal  names  and  titles  always  appeared  to  the  Egyptians  as  a 
matter  of  the  highest  importance.  The  first  title  consisted  of  the  name 
borne  by  the  king  as  a prince.  This  was  the  only  one  used  by  the  people 
or  in  history  ; it  was  too  sacred  to  be  written  as  an  ordinary  word,  and 
was  therefore  enclosed  in  an  oval  ring  in  order  to  separate  it  from  other 
secular  words.  Before  it  stood  the  title  “ King  of  Upper  Egypt  and  King 

of  Lower  Egypt.”  Thus  e.g.  King  of  Upper  Egypt 


and  King  of  Lower  Egypt,  Chufu.  Under  the  Old  Empire  the  idea 
arose  that  it  was  not  suitable  that  the  king,  who  on  ascending  the 
throne  became  a demigod,  should  retain  the  same  common  name  he  had 
borne  as  a prince.  As  many  ordinary  people  were  called  Pepy,  it  did 
not  befit  the  good  god  to  bear  this  vulgar  name  ; therefore  at  his 
accession  a new  name  was  given  him  for  official  use,  which  naturally  had 
some  pious  signification.  Pepy  became  “the  beloved  of  Re‘”  ; ’Ess’e,  when 
king,  was  called,  “the  image  of  Re'  stands  firm”;  and  Ment'uhotep  is  called 
“ Re‘,  the  lord  of  the  two  countries.”  We  see  that  all  these  official  names 
contain  the  name  of  Re‘  the  Sun-god,  the  symbol  of  royalty.  Neverthe- 
less, the  king  did  not  give  up  the  family  name  he  had  borne  as  prince, 
for  though  not  used  for  official  purposes,  it  yet  played  an  important 
part  in  the  king’s  titles.  It  was  the  name  which  attested  the  high  birth 
and  the  royal  descent  of  the  ruler,  and  as  according  to  loyal  belief  the 
royal  race  was  supposed  to  be  descended  from  the  sun-god  Re‘,  the 
title  Son  of  Rd  was  placed  with  special  significance  before  this  name,  eg. 


the  prince  Amenemhe't  was  therefore  called  as  king  : J 

Cl  S k-  g=^l  “the  King  of  Upper  Egypt  and  the  King  of  Lower  Egypt : 


Re‘,  the  speaker  of  truth,  the  son  of  Re‘:  Amenemhe't.”  The  style  was  not 
even  then  complete,  for  on  his  accession  the  king  took  three  other  titles  : 


“ Horus 


”;M’“ 


lord  of  the  diadem  of  the  vulture  and  of  the  snake  ” ; 


and  ylT.  “the  golden  Horus”;  these  testify  to  his  divine  nature,  for 

lO*rrfC~ C 


Horus  is  the  youthful,  victorious  sun-god,  and  the  two  diadems  are  crowns 
belonging  to  the  gods.  To  these  three  titles  are  again  added  three 
surnames,  e.g.  a king  of  the  I 3th  dynasty  is  called  : “ Horus,  who  united 
the  two  countries,  the  lord  of  the  diadem  of  the  vulture  and  of  the  snake, 


IV 


THE  KING  AND  HIS  COURT 


57 


of  abiding  splendour,  the  golden  Horus,  souls  of  the  gods,  the  King  of 
Upper  Egypt  and  the  King  of  Lower  Egypt  : ‘ Re‘  of  splendid  life,’  the 
son  of  Re‘ : ‘ Sebekhotep.’  ” 

Such  are  the  phrases  necessary  to  designate  the  Egyptian  king  in  full 
style,  and  even  these  long  titles  were  often  insufficient  to  content  the 
loyalty  of  the  scribes  of  the  new  Empire  ; their  reverence  for  their  ruler 
sometimes  even  found  expression  in  a short  psalm  appended  to  his 
name  ; eg.  the  dating  of  a stele,  erected  under  Ramses  II.,  on  the  way  to 
the  gold  mines  of  Nubia,  runs  thus  : 

“ In  the  3rd  year  of  His  Majesty  Horus  : the  strong  bull,  beloved  by 
the  goddess  of  truth,  the  lord  of  the  diadem  of  the  vulture  and  of  the 
snake  : who  protects  Egypt,  and  subdues  the  barbarians,  the  golden 
Horus  : full  of  years,  great  in  victories,  the  King  of  Upper  Egypt  and 
the  King  of  Lower  Egypt  : Re‘,  strong  in  truth,  chosen  of  Re‘,  the  son  of 
Re‘,  Ramses,  the  beloved  of  Amon,  giver  of  everlasting  life,  the  beloved 
of  the  Theban  Amon  Re‘,  the  lord  of  the  temple,  the  throne  of  the  two 
countries,  shining  daily  on  his  throne  amongst  men  as  his  father  Re‘. 

“ The  good  lord,  the  lord  of  the  south,- — the  Horus  with  the  bright 
plumes  of  the  temple  of  Edfu,  the  beautiful  silver  hawk,  who  protects 
Egypt  with  his  wings,  preparing  shade  for  mankind,  the  castle  of  strength 
and  of  victory, — who  came  out  terribly  from  his  mother’s  womb,  in  order 
to  take  to  himself  fame,  extending  his  borders,- — the  colour  of  his  body 
is  as  the  strength  of  the  war-god  Mont — the  god  Horus,  the  god  Set — 
Heaven  rejoiced  at  his  birth  ; the  gods  said  : we  have  brought  him  up  ; 
the  goddesses  said  : he  was  born  of  us,  to  be  the  leader  of  the  kingdom 
of  Re‘  ; Amon  said  : I am  he  who  made  him,  I seated  truth  in  her  place; 
for  his  sake  the  earth  is  established,  the  heavens  satisfied,  the  gods  con- 
tented— -the  strong  bull  against  the  miserable  Ethiopians,  his  roaring 
rages  against  the  negroland  : whilst  his  hoofs  trample  the  Troglodytes, 
his  horn  pushes  them — his  spirit  is  mighty  in  Nubia,  and  the  fear  of  him 
reaches  to  the  land  of  Kary,  his  name  is  famous  in  all  countries  because 
of  the  victories  which  his  arms  have  won — at  the  mention  of  his  name 
gold  comes  out  of  the  mountains,  as  at  the  name  of  his  father  ; the  god 
Horus  of  the  land  of  Baka — he  is  greatly  beloved  in  the  land  of  the 
south,  as  Horus  at  M’e'ama,  the  god  of  the  land  of  Buhen. 

“ The  king  of  Upper  Egypt  and  the  king  of  Lower  Egypt,  Re‘,  strong 
in  truth,  the  chosen  of  Re‘ — from  the  loins  of  Re‘,  the  lord  of  crowns, 
Ramses,  the  beloved  of  Amon,  the  daily  giver  of  eternal  life  like  his 
father  Re‘.”  1 

When  the  reader  has  made  his  way  through  the  stupefying  clatter  of 
these  empty  phrases  (which  were  used  even  of  the  weakest  monarch),  he 
is  still  ignorant  of  the  contents  of  the  inscription,  for  we  should 
express  all  that  he  has  read  by  the  words  “In  the  3rd  year  of  Ramses  II.” 
These  exaggerated  titles  show  us  that  the  Egyptians  believed  their 
king  to  be  a kind  of  deity,  and  in  fact  always  so  designated  him. 

1 Prisse,  Mon.  21. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


One  difference  existed  between  king  and  god:  while  Amon,  Re‘,  Osiris, 
and  Horus  are  called  the  great  gods,  the  king  as  a rule  had  to  be 
content  with  the  appellation,  the  good  god.  Each  king  was  of  divine 
birth,  for  as  long  as  he  was  acknowledged  sovereign,  he  was  considered 
as  the  direct  descendant  of  Re1.  This  belief  was  not  affected  by  the 
fact  that  in  course  of  time  the  throne  passed  frequently  from  one  family 
to  another  ; it  was  not  more  difficult  for  the  genealogists  of  the  New 
Empire  to  trace  the  relationship  of  the  usurper  Setnacht  or  of  the  Libyan 
Sheshonk  to  the  old  race  of  kings,  than  for  the  Arab  genealogists  to 
trace  the  descent  of  the  royal  families  of  Northern  Africa,  in  spite  of  their 
Berberic  blood,  from  the  Arab  comrades  of  the  Prophet.  In  modern 
times  the  historians  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  have 
done  the  same  for  other  royal  families.  Thus  the  Egyptian  kings  did 
not  hesitate  to  call  their  predecessors  their  ancestors,  for  it  was  always 
easy  to  construct  some  relationship  with  them.  The  people  were  also 
early  accustomed  to  view  their  rulers  as  gods,  for  in  the  beautiful  song  of 
the  i i th  dynasty,  concerning  the  passing  away  of  all  things  earthly,  we 
read  : “ the  gods  who  were  of  old,  rest  in  their  pyramids.”  1 

The  Egyptians  avoided  using  the  name  of  the  reigning  monarch,  in 
the  same  way  as  we  feel  a certain  awe  at  needlessly  pronouncing  the 
name  of  God.  They  therefore  spoke  of  the  king  as  : “ Horus  the  lord  of 
the  palace,  the  good  god,  his  Majesty,  thy  Lord,”  or  (usually  under  the 
New  Empire)  instead  of  all  these  designations,  they  used  the  indefinite 
pronoun  one  to  signify  sacred  power — “ One  has  commanded  thee,”  “ One 
is  now  residing  at  Thebes,”  would  be,  in  the  older  style,  “ The  king  has 
commanded  thee,”  or  “ The  king  resides  at  Thebes.”  When  royal  deeds 
are  mentioned,  the  name  of  the  ruler  is  used  in  a way  common  to  many 
nations;  eg.  as  the  Turks  call  their  government  “the  sublime  Porte,”  so 
the  Egyptians  of  all  ages  preferred  to  speak  of  the  government  buildings 
rather  than  of  the  ruler.  “ The  Palace,  the  king’s  house,  the  great  double 
hall  ” 2 and  above  all  the  “ great  house  ( pedo ) are  the  usual  appel- 

lations for  the  king  ; the  last  was  used  so  commonly  that  the  Hebrews 
and  Assyrians  employed  it  (Pharaoh)  almost  as  the  actual  name  of  the 
Egyptian  monarch. 

In  the  early  period  this  idea  of  the  divinity  of  the  king  was  not 
carried  to  its  final  consequences  ; temples  were  not  erected,  nor  were 
sacrifices  offered,  to  the  good  god  whilst  he  dwelt  amongst  men.  This 
custom  appears  to  have  been  a new  departure  in  the  time  of  the  New 
Empire,  and  it  is  noteworthy  that  the  temple,  in  which  Amenhotep  III. 
adores  himself  (the  mystical  official  expression  is  adores  his  living  earthly 
image — i.e.  that  of  the  sun-god),  was  not  on  Egyptian  soil.  This  new 
venture  was  only  made  when  the  Egyptian  religion  was  introduced  into 
Nubia.3 


1 Harr.,  500,  14,  4. 


3 Ed.  Meyer,  Gesch.  des  Alterthums,  § 225. 


IV 


THE  KING  AND  HIS  COURT 


59 


The  king  was  of  course  distinguished  from  his  subjects  by  his 
costume  ; the  tokens  of  royal  dignity  have  been  so  exactly  described, 
and  so  much  importance  has  been  attached  to  them,  that  we  must  dwell 
a little  on  their  gradual  development.  Under  the  Old  Empire  the  royal 
ornaments  were  very  simple.1 
It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  usual 
form  of  the  royal  dress  origin- 
ated in  very  primitive  times. 

In  prehistoric  ages,  when  the 
only  garment  was  a girdle 
round  the  loins,  with  two  or 
three  ties  hanging  down  in 
front,  it  was  considered  a luxury 
that  the  ruler  should  replace 
these  ties  by  a piece  of  matting 
or  fur,  and,  as  further  decora- 
tion, should  add  the  tail  of  a 
lion  behind.  In  the  rock  steles 
of  the  quarries  of  Sinai  the 
King  Sa’hure1  is  seen  standing 
clothed  in  this  way,  killing  his 
enemies  the  Beduins.  This  is 
only  an  ancient  symbolical 
representation,  and  we  must 
not  imagine  that  the  king 
really  wore  this  costume  of  a 
savage  chief.  In  the  time  of 


MEMORIAL  OF  THE  VICTORIES  OF  SA'HURfU  IN  THE 
WADI  MAGHARA  (L.  D. , ii.  39  f.  ) 


the  5 th  dynasty  the  loin  girdle  had  long  become  the 
dress  of  the  lower  orders,  all  the  upper  classes  in 
Egypt  wearing  a short  skirt.  The  king  wore  this 
skirt  sometimes  over,  but  more  usually  under  his  old 
official  costume.  Both  corners  of  the  piece  of  stuff 
were  then  rounded  off,  so  that  the  front  piece  belong- 
ing to  the  girdle  could  be  seen  below.  Sometimes 
the  whole  was  made  of  pleated  golden  material,  and 
must  have  formed  quite  a fine  costume. 

His  Majesty  shaved  off  both  hair  and  beard  as 
carefully  as  his  subjects,  and  like  them  he  replaced 
them  by  artificial  ones.  Even  in  these  respects  he  was 
distinguished  from  the  people,  for  the  artificial  beard 
which  he  fastened  under  his  chin  was  longer  than 
that  usually  worn  under  the  Old  Empire.  The  king 
also  covered  his  head  with  a head-dress  of  peculiar 
form  (see  pp.  43,  45)  the  sides  of  which  fell  over 
his  shoulders  in  two  pleated  lappets  ; it  was  twisted  together  behind,  and 
1 Pictures  of  kings  of  the  Old  Empire,  L.  D.,  ii.  2 a,  c.  39  f,  1 1 6 ; Statues  of  Cha‘fre‘  at  Gizeh. 


THE  USUAL  ROYAL  COS- 
TUME IN  THE  OLD 
PERIOD. 


6o 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


hung  down  like  a short  pigtail, 
always  found  on  his  head-dress  ; 


THE  SACRED  URAEUS  SNAKE. 

red,  and  the  wire  stretchin 


The  uraeus , the  symbol  of  royalty,  is 
this  brightly-coloured  poisonous  snake 
seems  to  rear  itself  up  on  the  brow  of 
the  king,  threatening  all  his  enemies, 
as  formerly  it  had  threatened  all  the 
enemies  of  the  god  Re‘. 

On  festive  occasions  the  king 
would  wear  his  crown,  either  the  white 
crown  of  Upper  Egypt,  a curious  high 
conical  cap,  or  the  scarcely  less  quaint 
red  crown  of  Lower  Egypt  with  its 
high  narrow  back,  and  the  wire  orna- 
ment bent  obliquely  forward  in  front. 
Sometimes  he  wore  both  crowns,  the 
double  crown,  the  white  one  inside  the 
from  the  former. 


g forward 


THE  CROOK. 


The  crook  and  the  flail  also  served  as  royal  insignia,  and  the  sickle- 
shaped sword,  called  from  its  shape,  the  thigh  ( Chopesh ),  seems  also  to 
have  been  a symbol  of  royalty. 

The  king  appeared  at  times  in  the  costume  of  a god  ; he  then  either 
bound  his  royal  girdle  round  the  narrow  womanish  garment  in  which  the 
people  imagined  their  divinities  to  be  dressed,  or  he  wore  one  of  the 
strange  divine  diadems  constructed  of  horns  and  feathers,  and  carried  the 
divine  sceptre.1 


1 L.  D.,  ii.  2 a. 


IV 


THE  KING  AND  HIS  COURT 


61 


The  royal  insignia  were  very  complex  even  in  the  time  of  the  Old 
Empire  ; in  later  times  they  were  essentially  the  same,  though  more 
splendid  in  appearance.  In  the  later  period 
special  importance  was  attached  to  the  front 
piece  of  the  royal  skirt,  which  was  covered  with 
rich  embroidery,  uraeus  snakes  were  represented 
wreathing  themselves  at  the  sides,  and  white 
ribbons  appeared  to  fasten  it  to  the  belt.  If, 
according  to  ancient  custom,  the  Pharaoh  wore 
nothing  but  this  skirt,  it  was  worn  standing  out 
in  front  in  a peak,  which  was  adorned  with  gold 
ornamentation.  Usually,  however,  the  kings  of 
the  New  Empire  preferred  to  dress  like  their 
subjects,  and  on  festive  occasions,  they  put  on 
the  long  transparent  under  dress  as  well  as  the 
full  over  dress,  the  short  skirt  being  then  worn 
either  over  or  under  these  robes.  The  crowns  also 
remained  unchanged,  while  the  diadems  of  the 
gods  with  their  horns  and  feathers 1 came  more 
into  fashion  than  in  the  earlier  periods.  It  was 
also  the  custom  that  Pharaoh,  even  in  times  of 
peace,  should  wear  his  war-helmet,  the  Chcperesh  ; 
this  was  quite  in  character  with  the  warlike  spirit 


of  this  age. 


THE  KING  IN  THE  COSTUME  OF 
THE  GODS  (L.  D. , ii.  39  f.  ) 


USUAL  ROYAL  COSTUME  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE. 

a,  Short  skirt  over  the  under  dress  ; double  crown.  (Offering  of  an  ointment  box.)  b,  Short  skirt 
under  the  same  ; war  helmet.  (Drink  offering  and  incense. ) c.  Short  skirt ; under  and  over  dress  ; 
diadem  of  the  gods.  (Offering  of  wine.) 


We  have  written  thus  much  about  the  costume  and  ornaments  of  the 

1 Stele  of  Kuban,  1.  8 : the  fillet  and  the  double  feather  are  part  of  the  king’s  costume  when 
in  council. 


62 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


king,  but  a whole  volume  would  be  required  to  describe  them  completely  ; 
so  minutely  were  they  represented  by  the  Egyptians.  The  lords  of  the 
royal  toilette  had  the  charge  of  their  proper  employment  ; there  were  many 
of  these  officials  under  the  Old  Empire,  and  they  seem  to  have  held  a 
high  position  at  court.  These  officials  were  called 
the  “ superintendent  of  the  clothes  of  the  king,”  1 2 the 
“ chief  bleacher,”  " the  “ washer  of  Pharaoh,”  3 and 
the  “ chief  washer  of  the  palace.”  4 Even  the  sandals 
had  their  special  custodian,5 * *  and  for  the  wigs  there 
were  the  “ wig-maker  of  Pharaoh,”  b the  “ upper  and 
under  wig- makers  of  the  king,”'  and  the  “ superin- 
tendent of  the  wig-makers.” s It  was  the  duty  of 
those  officials,  who  had  the  care  of  the  monarch’s 
hair,  to  take  charge  of  the  other  numerous  head- 
dresses of  the  king  ; they  were  called  “ keepers  of 
the  diadem,” 9 and  boasted  that  they  “adorned  the 
brow  of  their  god,”  or  of  “ the  Horus.” 10  There 
was  a special  superintendent  and  clerk,  the  “ chief 
metal-worker  and  chief  artist  for  the  care  of  the  royal 
jewels  ” 11 — which  at  the  same  time  formed  part  of 
the  charge  of  the  treasury  ; the  superintendence  of  the  clothes  of  the 
king  was  also  vested  in  the  same  department.1" 

There  were  not  so  many  of  these  officials  in  later 
times,  yet  under  the  Middle  Empire,  “ the  keeper  of 
the  diadem  who  adorns  the  king”  had  a high  position 
at  court.  He  had  the  title  of  “ privy  councillor  of 
the  two  crowns,”  or  “ privy  councillor  of  the  royal 


KING  IN  THE  LATER  FORM 
OF  THE  ROYAL  APRON, 
AND  IN  THE  HEAD  CLOTH. 
He  offers  incense  before 
the  god. 


» 13 


ROYAL  HELMET 
( Cheperesh ). 


jewels,  and  maker  of  the  two  magic  kingdoms. 

Divine  power  was  ascribed  to  the  crowns  of  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt,  which  are  referred  to  as  the  magic 
kingdoms , and  under  the  Middle  Empire  a regular 
priesthood,  instituted  by  the  keepers  of  the  diadem,  was  appointed  to 
these  two  crowns.  The  office  of  keeper  of  the  diadem  seems  to  have 
been  suppressed  under  the  New  Empire,  or  it  may  have  been  replaced  by 


1  R.  J.  H.,  83  ; Mar.  Mast.,  185. 

2  Mar.  Mast.,  185,  198  f.  ; Stele  of ’Euf’e  in  the  Brit.  Mus.  (L.  A.) 

3  Stele  of ’Euf’e  ; Mar.  Mast.,  198.  4 Mar.  Mast.,  70.  5 A.  Z.,  1882,  p.  20. 

6 ^ L.  D. , ii.  91  b. 

7 L.  D.,  ii.  95  f.;  R.  J.  H.,  60  ; L.  D.,  ii.  65  ff.  ; Mar.  Mast.,  250.  8 R.  J.  H.,  60. 

9  <r~>  ^ L.  D.,  ii.  35  fif.  65  ff. ; R.  J.  H.,  60  ; Mar.  Mast.,  250  ; Br.  Die.  Supplm.,  670. 

10  L.  D.,  ii.  35  ff.  65  ff. 

11  ^ o jj  R.  J.  H.,  60,  7S  (97) ; Mar.  Mast.,  101,  116,  135,  233  ff.,  250. 

13  Mar.  Mast.,  251  ff.  ; R.  J-  H.,  90;  L.  D.,  ii.  100  c. 

13  The  titles  of  these  and  other  officials  are  found  on  the  Steles  of  Chent-em-sete  and  Chent-em- 

sete-ur  (L.  A.),  both  of  the  Anastasi  collection  ; the  latter  is  now  in  the  Brit.  Mus. 


IV 


THE  KING  AND  HIS  COURT 


63 


the  “ overseer  of  the  ointments  of  the  king’s  treasury,  superintendent  of 
the  royal  fillet  of  the  good  god.”  1 

The  throne  of  the  living  one,  the  great  throne  on  which  the  king 
shone  when  giving  audience,  belongs  also  to  the  royal  insignia.  In  later 


KING  TUET-'ANCH-AMUN  (OYN.  18)  OX  HIS  THRONE  GIVES  AUDIENCE  TO  THE 
GOVERNOR  OF  ETHIOPIA  HUY. 


The  king  wears  the  war  helmet,  and  holds  the  whip  and  sceptre  ; the  governor  bears  the  sceptre,  and 
(as  a sign  of  his  rank)  the  fan.  The  canopy  is  adorned  at  the  top  with  uraeus  snakes,  below  with 
griffins,  the  symbol  of  wisdom,  over  whom  the  king  rules.  By  the  king  are  written  his  names  : 
the  King  of  Upper  Egypt  and  the  King  of  Lower  Egypt,' ' "the  god  Re  ‘ for  all  beings,”  " the  son 
of  Rg‘,”  “ Tuet-‘anch-Amun,  the  lord  of  Hermonthis,”  who  lives  for  ever  like  Rg‘  (L.  D.,  iii.  115). 


times  this  throne  certainly  could  not  be  recognised  by  its  shape  or  in  any 
other  way  as  a special  symbol  of  royal  dignity.  A canopy  raised  on 


1 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1122. 


64 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


pretty  wooden  pillars,  a thick  carpet  on  the  floor,  a seat  and  footstool 
of  the  usual  shape;  the  whole  brilliantly  coloured  and  decorated,- — such  was 
the  great  seat  of  Horns,  according  to  the  numerous  representations  of  the 
time  of  the  New  Empire.  When  we  examine  the  decoration,  we  see  that 
it  befits  a royal  throne  ; negroes  and  Asiatics  appear  to  carry  the  seat,  and 
a royal  sphinx,  the  destroyer  of  all  enemies,  is  represented  on  either  arm 
at  the  side.  On  the  floor,  and  therefore  under  the  feet  of  the  monarch, 
are  the  names  of  the  enemies  he  has  conquered,  and  above,  on  the  roof, 
are  two  rows  of  uraeus  snakes,1 2 3  the  symbol  of  royal  rank. 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  court  that  the  Pharaoh,  or  rather,  according 
to  the  poetical  language  of  Egypt,  that  the  sun-god  should  shine  when 
he  rose  from  the  horizon,  and  showed  himself  to  the  people  ; therefore 
whenever  we  see  the  Pharaoh  outside  his  palace,  he  is  surrounded  by  the 
greatest  splendour.  When  according  to  ancient  usage  he  is  carried  out 
in  a sedan-chair,  he  is  seated  within  it  in  full  dress,  two  lions  striding 
support  the  chair,  the  poles  of  which  rest  on  the  shoulders  of  eight  dis- 
tinguished courtiers."  The  fan-bearers  accompany  the  king,  fanning  him 
with  fresh  air  and  waving  bouquets  of  flowers  near  his  head,  that  the  air 
round  the  good  god  may  be  filled  with  sweet  perfumes.  The  ordinary 
fan-bearers  walk  in  front  and  behind  the  monarch,  but  the  high  official, 
who  accompanies  the  king  “as  his  fan-bearer  on  the  right”  carries  a 
beautiful  fan  and  a small  bouquet  merely  as  the  insignia  of  his  rank, 
and  leaves  the  work  to  the  servants. 

A representation  at  Tell  el  Amarna  of  King  Chuen-’eten  visiting  his 
god  the  Sun-disk,'1  shows  us  how  the  royal  family  set  out  : — - 

The  procession  moves  out  of  the  courts  of  the  royal  palace  surrounded 
by  the  greatest  pomp  and  splendour.  Two  runners  with  staves  hasten 
first  to  clear  the  way  through  the  inquisitive  crowd  for  the  king’s  chariot. 
Following  close  behind  them  comes  His  Majesty  drawn  by  fiery  richly- 
caparisoned  horses,  with  which  the  servants  can  scarcely  keep  pace.  On 
either  side  is  the  bodyguard  on  foot,  running;  Egyptian  soldiers  and  Asiatic 
mercenaries  armed  with  all  kinds  of  weapons  ; their  badges  are  borne  before 
them,  and  behind  them  the  officers  follow  driving.  After  the  king’s 
chariot  come  those  of  his  consort  and  of  his  daughters,  two  of  the  young 
princesses  drive  together,  the  elder  holds  the  reins,  while  the  younger 
leans  tenderly  on  her  sister.  Behind  them  come  six  carriages  with  the 
court  ladies,  and  on  either  side  six  more  with  the  lords  of  the  bed-chamber. 
Runners  and  servants  hasten  along  on  both  sides  swinging  their  staves. 

A more  splendid  spectacle  can  scarcely  be  imagined  than  this  proces- 
sion as  it  passed  quickly  by  the  spectators  ; the  gilded  chariot,  the  many- 
coloured  plumes  of  the  horses,  the  splendid  harness,  the  coloured  fans,  the 
white  flowing  garments,  all  lighted  up  by  the  glowing  sun  of  Egypt. 

When  the  Pharaoh  died  and  was  buried,  or  rather  as  the  Egyptians 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  76,  77,  and  other  similar  passages. 

2 L.  D. , iii.  2 b,  c.  121a.  This  account  refers  to  the  time  of  the  New  Empire. 

3 See  the  interesting  representations  in  the  tomb  of  Mry-Re‘  at  Tell  el  Amarna  (L.  D.,  iii.  92-94). 


IV 


THE  KING  AND  HIS  COURT 


65 


would  have  said,  “ when  he  like  the  sun-god  has  set  below  the  horizon, 
and  all  the  customs  of  Osiris  have  been  fulfilled  for  him  ; when  he  has 
passed  over  the  river  in  the  royal  bark  and  gone  to  rest  in  his  eternal 
home  to  the  west  of  Thebes,”  then  the  solemn  accession  of  his  son  takes 
place.  “ His  father  Amon,  the  lord  of  the  gods,  Re‘,  Atum,  and  Ptah 
beautiful  of  face,  the  lords  of  the  two  countries,  crown  him  in  the  place  of 
his  forefathers  ; joyfully  he  succeeds  to  the  dignity  of  his  father  ; the 
country  rejoices  and  is  at  peace  and  rest  ; the  people  are  glad  because 
they  acknowledge  him  ruler  of  the  two  countries,  like  Horus,  who  governs 
the  two  countries  in  the  room  of  Osiris.  He  is  crowned  with  the  Atef- 


KING  HAREMH&B  IS  CARRIED  BY  SOLDIERS  ; BEFORE  AND  BEHIND  ARE  THE  REAL  FAN-BEARERS, 
NEAR  HIM  A DISTINGUISHED  “FAN-BEARER  ON  THE  RIGHT  OF  THE  KING." 

The  ornamentation  of  the  throne  is  the  binding  together  of  the  flowers  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt, 
signifying  the  union  of  the  two  halves  of  the  kingdom  (L.  D.,  iii.  121  a). 


crown  with  the  uraeus  ; to  which  is  added  the  crown  with  the  double 
feathers  of  the  god  Tatenen  ; he  sits  on  the  throne  of  Harmachis,  and  is 
adorned  like  the  god  Atum.”  1 

We  know  little  of  the  details  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  day  of  acces- 
sion ; it  was  kept  as  a yearly  festival,2  and  celebrated  with  special 
splendour  on  the  thirtieth  anniversary.3  One  representation  only  is  known 
of  a festival  which  apparently  belongs  to  the  coronation  festivities,4  i.e.  the 
great  processional  and  sacrificial  festival,  which  the  king  solemnises  to 
his  father  Min,  the  god  who  causes  the  soil  to  be  fertile.  It  was  natural 

1 Harris,  i.  76,  1-4.  2 Coronation  festival,  L.  D.,  iii.  31  b.  13.  3 L.  D.,  iii.  174  d.,  175  f. 

4 L.  D.,  iii.  162-164,  ib.  2 12-2 13  (more  fully  W.  iii.  lx.),  in  both  places  amongst  pictures  of 
the  life  of  the  king. 


F 


66 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAI'. 


that  the  king  should  begin  his  reign  over  this  agricultural  country  with  a 
sacrifice  to  the  god  of  the  fields. 

We  first  see  how  the  king,  “ shining  as  the  sun,”  leaves  the  “ palace 
of  life,  steadfastness,  and  purity,  and  is  borne  towards  • the  house  of  his 
father  Min,  to  behold  his  beauty.”  The  Pharaoh  is  seated  under  a canopy 
in  a richly  decorated  sedan-chair,  he  is  carried  by  some  of  his  sons,  while 
others  fan  him  with  their  large  fans.  Two  priests  walk  in  front  burning 
incense  ; a third,  the  reciter-priest,  reads  “ all  that  is  customary  before 
the  king  as  he  goes  forth.”  A company  of  royal  relatives,  royal  children 
and  great  princes,  precede  the  king,  others  follow  ; at  the  head  of  the 
procession  are  drummers  and  trumpeters,  while  in  the  rear  march  the 
soldiers. 

In  the  meantime  the  god  Min  has  left  his  sanctuary  and  advances  to 
meet  the  king.  Twenty  priests  bear  the  covered  stand,  on  which  is  the 
image  of  the  god  ; others  fan  the  god  with  bouquets  and  fans.  The 
“ white  bull,”  sacred  to  the  god,  walks  pensively  before  him,  and  a long 
procession  of  priests  follow,  carrying  the  insignia  of  kingship,  and  divine 
symbols  ; also  images  of  the  royal  ancestors,  the  statues  of  the  kings  of 
Upper  and  Lower  Egypt.  In  the  meantime  the  reciter-priest  reads  from 
the  strange  book  the  “ words  of  the  negroes,”  and  the  procession  advancing 
meets  that  of  the  king,  which  is  waiting  on  a terrace,  where  two  flag-staves 
bearing  the  head-dress  of  the  god  have  been  erected.  Here  the  priest 
lets  fly  four  geese,  to  carry  the  news  to  the  gods  of  the  four  quarters  ot 
heaven,  that  “ Horus  the  son  of  Isis  and  Osiris  has  received  the  white  and 
the  red  crown,  that  King  Ramses  has  received  the  white  and  the  red 
crown.”  1 

When  the  monarch  has  thus  been  proclaimed  king  to  the  gods,  he 
offers  his  royal  sacrifice  in  the  presence  of  the  statues  of  his  ancestors. 
A priest  presents  him  with  the  golden  sickle,  with  which  he  cuts  a sheaf  of 
corn,  he  then  strews  it  before  the  white  bull,  symbolising  the  offering  of 
the  first  fruits  of  his  reign.  He  then  offers  incense  before  the  statue  of 
the  god,  while  the  priest  recites  from  the  mysterious  books  of  the  “ dances 
of  Min.”  When  the  Pharaoh,  with  these  and  similar  ceremonies,  has 
taken  upon  him  the  dignity  of  his  father  he  next  receives  the  congratula- 
tions of  his  court.  If  any  of  the  high  officials  are  unavoidably  absent, 
they  send  congratulatory  letters  : eg.  the  treasurer  Qagabu  sends  the 
following  poem  to  Sety  II.  on  his  coronation, “ that  it  may  be  read  in  the 
palace  of  Meryma't  in  the  horizon  of  Re‘  : — 

“ Incline  thine  ear  towards  me,  thou  rising  Sun, 

Thou  who  dost  enlighten  the  two  lands  with  beauty  ; 

Thou  sunshine  of  mankind,  chasing  darkness  from  Egypt  ! 

Thy  form  is  as  that  of  thy  father  Re‘  rising  in  the  heavens, 


1 According  to  a legend  Ilorus  employed  the  same  messengers  to  announce  his  accession  to  the 
other  gods.  Cp.  the  representation  of  his  accession,  L.  D.,  iv.  57-58. 

- An.  4,  5,  6 ff.  The  writing  belongs  to  the  first  year. 


IV 


THE  KING  AND  HIS  COURT 


67 


Thy  rays  penetrate  to  the  farthest  lands. 

When  thou  art  resting  in  thy  palace, 

Thou  hearest  the  words  of  all  countries  ; 

For  indeed  thou  hast  millions  of  ears  ; 

Thine  eye  is  clearer  than  the  stars  of  heaven  ; 

Thou  seest  farther  than  the  Sun. 

If  I speak  afar  off,  thine  ear  hears  ; 

If  I do  a hidden  deed,  thine  eye  sees  it. 

O Re‘,  richest  of  beings,  chosen  of  Re‘, 

Thou  king  of  beauty,  giving  breath  to  all.” 

If  we  may  believe  what  Diodorus1  tells  us  of  the  daily  life  of  the  king, 
we  shall  find  the  order  of  each  day  most  strictly  regulated  for  the  Pharaoh. 
At  daybreak  the  king  despatches  and  answers  his  letters,  he  then  bathes 
and  robes  himself  in  his  state  garments  and  assists  at  the  sacrifice  in  the 
temple.  There  the  high  priest  and  the  people  pray  for  the  god’s  blessing 
on  the  king,  and  the  priest  gives  him  to  understand,  in  a figurative  way, 
what  is  worthy  of  praise  or  blame  in  his  manner  of  ruling.  After  this  homily 
the  king  offers  sacrifice,  but  does  not  leave  the  temple  till  he  has  listened 
to  the  reading  from  the  sacred  books  on  the  deeds  and  the  maxims  of 
famous  men.  His  manner  of  life  during  the  remainder  of  the  day  is 
exactly  laid  out  for  him,  even  as  to  the  times  for  his  walks,  or  for  his 
frugal  meals  of  goose-flesh,  beef,  and  wine.  Everything,  Diodorus  tells  us, 
is  arranged  as  strictly  and  reasonably  as  if  “ prescribed  by  a physician.” 

It  is  not  possible  that  the  rulers  of  a kingdom,  which  flourished  for 
3000  years,  should  really  have  been  such  puppets  as  Diodorus  represents. 
This  historian  gives  us  the  ideal  of  a pious  king,  according  to  the  priestly 
ideas  of  later  times,  and  in  fact  the  later  kings  of  the  20th  dynasty,  may 
have  led  such  lives  under  the  governance  of  the  Theban  ecclesiastics,  until 
the  high  priests  judged  it  more  expedient  to  ascend  the  throne  themselves. 
Yet  there  is  some  truth  in  many  features  of  this  description  even  as 
regards  the  more  ancient  periods,  for  the  Egyptian  king  had  always  to 
play  a religious  part.  In  the  same  way  as  each  Egyptian  of  high  standing 
exercised  a kind  of  priestly  office  in  the  temple  of  his  god,  so  the  king 
was  considered  the  priest  of  all  the  gods.  Whenever  we  enter  an 
Egyptian  temple,  we  see  the  king  represented  offering  his  sacrifice  to  the 
gods.  In  most  cases  this  is  symbolic  of  the  presents  and  revenues  with 
which  the  king  endowed  the  temple,  but  it  is  not  probable  that  they  would 
have  had  these  representations  if  the  king  had  not  sometimes  officiated 
there  in  person.  At  many  festivals  (eg.  the  above-mentioned  festival  of 
the  god  Min)  it  is  expressly  declared  in  the  official  style  of  the  inscription, 
that  the  chief  business  of  the  king  is  to  “ give  praise  to  his  fathers,  the 
gods  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  because  they  give  him  strength  and 
victory,  and  a long  life  of  millions  of  years.”  2 

It  was  part  of  the  king’s  work  to  guide  the  government  and  carry  on 
the  wars,  but  in  theory  his  duty  towards  the  gods  was  still  more  important. 
Being,  in  very  deed,  “ the  son  of  Re‘,  who  is  enthroned  in  his  heart,  whom 


1 Diodorus,  i.  70. 


2 Stele  of  Kuban,  line  7,  and  many  other  examples. 


68 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


he  loves  above  all,  and  who  is  with  him,  he  is  a shining  embodiment  of 
the  lord  of  all,  created  by  the  gods  of  Heliopolis.  His  divine  father 
created  him  to  exalt  his  glory.  Amon  himself  crowned  him  on  his  throne 

in  the  Heliopolis  of  the  south,  he 
chose  him  for  the  Shepherd  of 
Egypt,  and  the  defender  of  man- 
kind.” 1 2 When  the  gods  blessed 
the  country,  it  was  for  the  sake 
of  their  son ; when  after  many 
failures  they  allowed  some  under- 
taking to  succeed,  it  was  in  answer 
to  the  prayers  of  their  son.  With 
these  ideas  what  is  more  natural 
than  that  the  people  should  con- 
sider the  king  to  be  the  media- 
tor for  his  country  ? He  alone 
with  the  high  priest  might  enter 
the  Holy  of  Holies  in  the  temples, 
he  alone  might  open  the  doors  of 
the  inner  sanctuary  and  “ see  his 
father  the  god.” 

The  monarch  could  scarcely  fulfil 
all  these  religious  duties,  as  well  as 
those  of  the  administration  which 
were  expected  of  him.  His  cabinet 2 formed  the  centre  of  the  govern- 
ment, to  which  all  the  chief  officials  had  to  “ render  their  account,”  3 and 
to  which  “ truth  must  ascend.”  When  reports  were  concluded,  they 
were  laid  before  the  ruler,  and  special  questions  were  also  brought  to  him 
for  his  decision  ; this  was  the  case,  at  any  rate,  in  the  strained  conditions 
of  the  time  of  the  New  Empire. 

When  thieves  were  caught,  tried,  and  found  guilty,  the  court  was  not 
allowed  to  pronounce  sentence  ; the  report  was  made  to  the  Pharaoh, 
who  decreed  what  punishment  was  to  be  awarded  ;4  when  houses  were 
allotted  to  labourers,  the  king  was  importuned  about  it.y  In  short,  there 
was  nothing  which  might  not,  under  certain  circumstances,  be  brought 
before  the  Pharaoh,  and  if  he  were  not  able  personally  to  sift  the  matter,  he 
was  obliged  to  appoint  a delegate  6 to  take  his  place.  We  who  know  the 
pleasure  the  Egyptian  scribe  took  in  lawsuits,  realise  how  many  reports 
the  king  had  daily  to  read,  and  how  many  royal  orders  he  had  to  give. 
The  monarch  had  also  to  journey  through  the  country  and  examine  in 
person  the  condition  of  the  buildings,  etc.  We  learn  how  more  than 

1 See  L.  D. , iii.  24. 

2 Q old  spelling  ^ ^ 0 g-jjp  e-g-  R-  J-  H.,  95.  CP-  Br-  Dic-  Suppl.,  p.  v.  ’ah’a. 

3 d'd  sm'e,  e.g.  An.,  4,  4,  9.  4 Pap.  Amherst,  3,  9 and  4,  3. 

5 Insc.  Hier.  Char.,  12.  8 Abb.,  6,  14. 


RAMSES  II.  MAKES  AN  OFFERING  BEFORE  THE 
GODDESS  NEBTHAT. 

He  ‘‘gives  two  jugs  of  milk  to  his  mother."  The 
goddess  promises  him,  in  consequence,  "that  he 
shall  endure  eternally  like  the  heavens." 


IV 


THE  KING  AND  HIS  COURT 


69 


once  the  king  travelled  through  the  desert  in  order  to  understand  the 
position  of  the  quarries  and  of  the  oases.1 

The  king  had  of  course  trustworthy  officials  to  assist  him  in  this 
work  ; the  chief  of  these  was  the  T ate,  the  “ governor,”  whom  we  may 
consider  as  the  leader  of  the  government,  and  who  communicated  with 
the  king  on  state  affairs  through  the  “speaker.”2  In  difficult  cases  the 
king  summoned  his  councillors,  or  (as  they  were  called  under  the  New 
Empire)  “his  princes,  who  stand  before  him,”3  and  requested  their  opinion. 
The  king  often  appointed  his  son  and  heir  as  co-regent, — this  was  the  case 
under  most  of  the  kings  of  the  12th  dynasty.  We  read  that  he  “appoints 
him  his  heir  on  the  throne  of  the  god  Oeb  ; he  becomes  the  great  captain 
of  the  country  of  Egypt,  and  gives  orders  to  the  whole  country.”  4 

The  “ great  house,”  therefore,  in  which  the  king  resided  was  not  only 
the  dwelling-place  of  a god  (his  horizon  as  the  Egyptians  were  accustomed 
to  call  it),  but  also  the  seat  of  government,  the  heart  of  the  country. 
This  double  definition  was  carried  out  in  the  disposition  of  the  royal 
house,  which  was  always  divided  into  two  parts,  an  outer  part  serving  for 
audiences  ; an  inner  one,  the  dwelling  of  the  “ good  god.”  The  outer 


division  is  the  large  battlemented  enclosure 


which  bore  the 


name  of  Usechet  the  wide  ; the  inner  part  is  the  narrow  richly  decor- 
ated building  'Alia  hjj,  lying  in  the  background  of  the  enclosure.0 


These  two  parts  of  the  palace  were  sharply  defined,  especially  under 
the  Old  Empire,  when  the  titles  of  the  court  officials  showed  to  which 
division  their  owners  belonged.  Audiences  were  held  in  the  “ usechet  ” ; 
the  highest  government  officials,  the  “ great  men  of  the  south  ” and  the 
Judges,  were  therefore  called  the  “overseers”  “the  governors  of  the  vesti- 
bule,”" or  “the  governors  of  the  writing  business  of  the  vestibule.”'  The 
palace  'Alia  on  the  other  hand  was  the  home  of  the  king,  and  whoever 
was  called  governor  of  the  palace  was  either  a prince  or  a personal 
servant  of  the  king,  a lord-chamberlain. 8 

In  the  palace  itself,  under  the  Old  Empire,  there  were  various  divi- 


sions : there  was  the 


the  great  hall  of  pillars,  which  was  used 


1 L.  D.,  ii.  149  f.,  iii.  140  b. 


the  time  of  the  18th  dynasty. 

3 Stele  of  Kuban,  1.  11  ; L.  D.,  iii.  187.  4 Harris,  i.  75,  10. 

5 The  form  here  given  of  the  palace  belongs  to  the  Old  Empire  (e.g.  L.  D.,  ii.  4S.  Mar.  Mast., 
248,  424);  it  is  the  traditional  form  in  later  representations  (e.g.  W. , iii.  pi.  lx.).  The  palace  of 
the  New  Empire  appears  in  several  different  ways  (see  ch.  ix. ),  but  it  always  contains  this  division, 
bearing  indeed  the  same  names  : ’ah'a,  An.,  4,  5,  9 ; usechet,  An.,  5,  19,  6. 

e L.  D.,  ii.  48  ff.,  103  c.;  R.  J.  H.,  86,  87  ; Mar.  Mast.,  124  ff.,  214  flf. , 228  ff.  etc. 

7 Mar.  Mast.,  214  ff. 

H cherp,  ’ah’a  with  princes,  L.  D.,  ii.  34  g. ; R.  J.  H.,  65,  with  other  court  officials,  e.g. 
R.  J.  H.,  82  f.;  L.  D.,  ii.  35  ff.,  S9  a.;  Mar.  Mast.,  160  f.,  236  ff. ; mer  ’ah’a,  R.  J.  H.,  78. 


70 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


for  council  meetings,  and,  still  more  important,  there  was  the  house 
of  adoration  I i ^ ^ > the  king’s  room.  Only  the  king’s 

sons,  his  nearest  friends,  and  the  governor  of  the  palace,  were  allowed 
to  bear  the  title  of  “ Privy  councillor  of  the  house  of  adoration,”  a 
gentilhomvie  de  la  chambre  du  roi,  as  they  would  say  at  the  French 
court.  The  Egyptian  king  had  several  palaces  1 in  the  different  towns  of 
his  kingdom,  and  Ramses  II.  and  Ramses  III.  made  for  themselves  noble 
palaces  even  in  the  two  temples,  which  they  built  to  Amon  on  the  west 
side  at  Thebes.1’  We  should  expect  in  this  ceremonious  country,  that  the 
palaces  should  receive  particular  names,  and  we  find,  e.g.,  that  of  Sety  II. 
called  “ Beloved  of  the  goddess  of  truth.”3 

Even  in  modern  times  it  is  considered  a special  honour  to  have 
personal  intercourse  and  to  associate  with  the  ruler  of  the  state.  If  this 
be  the  case  now,  when  we  consider  him  only  as  the  chief  officer  and  the 
first  nobleman  of  the  land,  how  much  greater  would  the  honour  be  in 
Egypt  where  the  Pharaoh  was  looked  upon  as  a god.  Pie  who  was  chosen 
to  enjoy  this  great  happiness  never  forgot  to  inscribe  it  in  his  tomb  for 
the  benefit  of  posterity  ; and  many  are  the  phrases  and  the  titles  which 
he  used  to  express  his  sense  of  the  dignity  conferred  upon  him  : “ He 
knew  the  place  of  the  royal  foot,  and  followed  his  benefactor  in  the  way,4 
he  followed  Horus  in  his  house,5  he  lived  under  the  feet  of  his  master,0 
he  was  beloved  by  the  king  more  than  all  the  people  of  Egypt,  he  was 
loved  by  him  as  one  of  his  friends,  he  was  his  faithful  servant,  dear  to 
his  heart,  he  was  in  truth  beloved  by  his  lord.”'  Over  and  over  again 
we  meet  with  these  phrases  in  the  tombs  of  the  great  men,  and  all  that 
they  signify  is  that  the  deceased  belonged  to  the  court  circle,  or  in  the 

Egyptian  language  to  the  the  “ Chosen  of  the  Guard."  These  courtiers 

watched  jealously  lest  one  should  approach  the  monarch  nearer  than 
another  ; there  were  certain  laws,  the  “ customs  of  the  palace  and  the 
maxims  of  the  court,”  which  were  strictly  observed  by  the  officials  who 
“allowed  the  courtiers  to  ascend  to  the  king.”8  This  presentation  of  the 
courtiers  in  order  of  precedence  was  openly  considered  as  a most  important 
business,  and  those  whose  duty  it  was  to  “ range  the  princes  in  their 
places,5'  to  appoint  to  the  friends  of  the  king  their  approach  when  standing 
or  sitting,”1"  boast  how  excellently  they  performed  their  duty. 

We  know  little  more  of  the  ceremonial  of  the  Egyptian  court  ; the 
fact  that  King  Shepseskaf  allowed  Ptahshepses,  one  of  his  grandees,  to 
kiss  his  foot  instead  of  kissing  the  ground  before  him,  shows  us  how  strict 
etiquette  was  even  under  the  Old  Empire.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  man 

1 Even  under  the  Old  Empire,  “Governor  of  the  noble  dwellings  of  the  King,”  L.D.,  ii.  35  ff. 
“ Privy  councillor  of  the  king  in  all  his  dwellings,”  Mar.  Mast.,  195. 

2 L.  1).,  iii.  159  ; Harris,  i.  4,  11.  That  these  funerary  temples  were  at  least  nominally  dedi- 
cated to  Amon  we  see  from  L.  D.,  iii.  167  ; Harris,  i.  3,  If.  3 An.,  4,  5,  6. 

4 Louvre,  C.  170.  5 Louvre,  C.  55.  6 Passim.  7 R.  J.  H.,  11. 

8 A.  Z.,  1882,  204.  !*  Cp.  e.g.  A.  Z.,  1882,  10.  10  Mar.  Cat.  d'Ab.,  764. 


IV 


THE  KING  AND  HIS  COURT 


7 1 


chosen  out  for  this  high  honour  was  not  only  the  high  priest  of  Memphis, 
but  also  the  son-in-law  of  His  Majesty.1  Under  the  Old  Empire  these 
conventionalities  were  carried  farther  than  in  any  later  time  ; and  the 
long  list  of  the  titles  of  those  officials  shows  us  that  the  court  under 
the  pyramid-builders  had  many  features  in  common  with  that  of  the 
Byzantines. 

Under  the  New  Empire  it  seems  to  have  been  rather  out  of  fashion, 
at  any  rate  for  the  highest  officials,  to  kiss  the  earth : the  words  may 
occur  occasionally  in  the  inscriptions,  but  in  the  pictures  the  princes  only 
bow,  either  with  their  arms  by  their  sides  or  with  them  raised  in  prayer 
before  His  Majesty.  The  priests  also,  when  receiving  the  king  cere- 
moniously at  the  gates  of  the  temples,  only  bow  respectfully,  and  even 
their  wives  and  children  do  the  same  as  they  present  the  Pharaoh  with 
flowers  and  food  in  token  of  welcome  ; it  is  only  the  servants  who  throw 
themselves  down  before  him  and  kiss  the  earth  at  the  sight  of  the 
monarch.2 

It  seems  to  have  been  the  custom  under  the  New  Empire  to  greet  the 
king  with  a short  psalm  when  they  “ spoke  in  his  presence  ” (it  was  not 
etiquette  to  speak  “ to  him  ”) — e.g.  when  the  king  had  called  his  coun- 
cillors together,  and  had  set  forth  to  them  how  he  had  resolved  to  bore  a 
well  on  one  of  the  desert  roads,  and  had  asked  them  for  their  opinion  on 
the  subject,  we  might  expect  them  straightway  to  give  him  an  answer, 
especially  as  already  on  their  entrance  into  the  hall  they  had  “ raised  their 
arms  praising  him.”  The  princes  considered  it  necessary  however  to 
make  a preamble  as  follows  : “ Thou  art  like  Re‘  in  all  that  thou  doest, 
everything  happens  according  to  the  wish  of  thy  heart.  We  have  seen  many 
of  thy  wondrous  deeds,  since  thou  hast  been  crowned  king  of  the  two 
countries,  and  we  have  neither  seen  nor  heard  anything  equal  to  thee. 
The  words  of  thy  mouth  are  like  the  words  of  Harmachis,  thy  tongue  is 
a balance,  and  thy  lips  are  more  exact  than  the  little  tongue  on  the 
balance  of  Thoth.  What  way  is  there  that  thou  dost  not  know  ? Who 
accomplishes  all  things  like  thee  ? Where  is  the  place  which  thou  hast 
not  seen  ? There  is  no  country  through  which  thou  hast  not  journeyed, 
and  what  thou  hast  not  seen  thou  hast  heard.  For  from  thy  mother’s 
womb  thou  hast  governed  and  ruled  this  country  with  all  the  dignity  of 
a child  of  royal  blood.  All  the  affairs  of  the  two  countries  were  brought 
before  thee,  even  when  thou  wast  a child  with  the  plaited  lock  of  hair.  No 
monument  was  erected,  no  business  was  transacted,  without  thee.  When 
thou  wast  at  the  breast,  thou  wast  the  general  of  the  army ; in  thy  tenth  year 
thou  didst  suggest  the  plan  of  all  the  works,  and  all  affairs  passed  through 
thy  hands.  When  thou  didst  command  the  water  to  cover  the  mountain, 
the  ocean  obeyed  immediately.  In  thy  limbs  is  Re‘,  and  Chepr’e  thy 
creator  dwells  within  thee.  Thou  art  the  living  image  on  earth  of  thy 
father  Atum  of  Heliopolis.  The  god  of  taste  is  in  thy  mouth,  the  god  of 
knowledge  in  thy  heart  ; thy  tongue  is  enthroned  in  the  temple  of  truth; 

3 R.  J.  H.,  80.  - From  the  picture,  L.  D.,  iii.  92  ff. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


God  is  seated  upon  thy  lips.  Thy  words  are  fulfilled  daily,  and  the 
thoughts  of  thy  heart  are  carried  out  like  those  of  Ptah  the  creator. 
Thou  art  immortal,  and  thy  thoughts  shall  be  accomplished  and  thy  words 
obeyed  for  ever.” 

When  the  princes  had  expressed  their  admiration  of  the  young  king 
in  this  pretty  but  in  our  opinion  exaggerated,  senseless  style,  they 
might  then  address  him  directly  : “ O King,  our  master,”  and  answer  his 
question.1 

Special  titles  served  to  signify  the  degree  of  rank  the  great  men  held 


with  respect  to  the  king.  In  old  times  the  most  important  were  jl^  the 
friend , and  |1  ^ the  well-beloved  friend  of  the  king.  These  degrees 


of  rank  were  awarded  at  the  same  time  as  some  promotion  in  office.  A 
high  official  of  the  6th  dynasty  received  the  office  of  “ Under-superin- 
tendent of  the  prophets  of  the  royal  city  of  the  dead,”  and  at  the  same 
time  the  rank  of  “ friend  ” ; when  later  he  was  promoted  to  be  “ Chief  of 
the  district  of  the  Nubian  boundary,”  he  became  the  well-beloved  friend r 
Promotion  to  a certain  rank  was  not  exactly  connected  with  certain  offices, 
it  was  given  rather  as  a special  mark  of  favour  by  the  king. 

Amongst  the  “ nearest  friends  ” of  king  Pepy,  was  one  belonging  to 
the  lower  rank  of  “ Overseer  of  Scribes  ” ; in  this  case  he  was  invested  with 
a title  of  honour  usually  reserved  for  higher  officials."  The  princes  of  the 
royal  household  were  as  a matter  of  course  raised  to  this  rank  sooner 
than  others,  for  whilst  as  a rule  no  high  priest,  no  “treasurer  of  the  god,” 
bears  the  title  of  “ friend ,”  the  sons  of  the  king  holding  these  positions 
are  often  called  the  “ nearest  friends  ” of  their  father.4 5  Though  these 
titles  were  generally  given  only  to  the  highest  officials,  yet  some  of 
the  “ great  men  of  the  South  ” are  counted  as  “friends”  while  many 
chief  judges3  are  without  this  rank.  It  seems  that  officers  in  the 
palace  received  it  when  called  to  be  “ Privy-Councillors  of  the  honourable 
house,”6  while  the  high  priests  appear,  as  we  have  said,  to  be  entirely 
excluded. 

The  rank  of  friend  was  kept  up  in  later  times,  though  it  did  not 
play  so  important  a part  as  before.  Under  the  New  Empire  the  title  of 
“ fan-bearer  on  the  right  hand  of  the  king  ” was  given  to  princes,  judges, 
high-treasurers,  generals,  and  others  of  the  highest  rank.  They  had  the 


1 Stele  of  Kuban.  It  is  possible  that  the  redactor  of  this  inscription  may  have  embellished  it  in 

a poetical  manner.  2 A.  Z. , 1882,  p.  8. 

3 Stele  of  Pepy-sed  in  the  Brit.  Mus.  (L.  A.). 

4 High  priests  without  rank  : R.  J-  H.,  79  ff. , 93  ff.  ; Mar.  Mast.,  74  ff.,  123. 157  ; Mar.  mon. 
div.,  18.  With  rank  : L.  D.,  ii.  22  c.  Treasurers  of  the  god,  without  rank  : L.  D.,  ii.  97  a.  100  b.  ; 
Mar.  Mast.,  88,  162,  198  ff.  With  rank  : R.  J.  H.,  89;  Mar.  Mast.,  189,  191. 

5 Chief  judges  without  rank:  L.  D.,  ii.  45  ff.  ; Mar.  Mast.,  228  ff.  With  rank  (e.g.  princes)  : 
L.  D.,  ii.  15.34  g.,  41-75;  R-  J-  H.,  65,  96.153;  Mar.  Mast.,  124  etc. 

6 Palace  officials,  without  rank  : Mar.  Mast.,  116,  135.  !36,  250;  L.  D.,  ii.  65,  95  f.  ; R.  J.  H., 
78,  88.  As  friends,  R.  J.  H.,  82  ; Mar.  Mast.,  236.  As  nearest  friends,  L.  D. , ii.  35  ff. , 86,  89  a; 
R.  J.  H.,  6.60;  Mar.  Mast.,  160.175  ff.,  185. 


IV 


THE  KING  AND  HIS  COURT 


73 


privilege  of  carrying  as  insignia,  a fan  and  a small  battle-axe  1 of  the  shape 
represented  below.  The  axe,  symbolic  of  the  warlike  character  of  the 
New  Empire,  shows  that  this  title  was  originally  given  to  those  of  high 
military  rank,  and  in  fact  we  find  some  of  the  standard-bearers  and  fan-, 
bearers  in  the  army  2 carrying  this  fan.  The  fan  was  also  given  to  ladies, 
and  the  maids  of  honour  of  the  queen  and  the  princesses  often  bear  it. ' 
That  it  was  certainly  considered  a great  honour,  we  judge  from  the  fact 
that  the  happy  possessor  was  never  depicted  without  it, — even  when  the 
hands  are  raised  in  prayer,  the  fan  or  the  axe  is  represented  on  the  band 
on  the  shoulder.4 

I have  observed  above  that  those  who  were  raised  to  the  rank  of 
“ fan-bearer  ” received  also  the  title  of  “ nearest 
friend ,”  which  under  the  New  Empire  signified 
essentially  the  same  dignity.  Similar  con- 
servative customs  in  maintaining  names  and 
titles  may  often  be  observed  under  the  New 
Empire,  e.g.  notwithstanding  that  all  the 
conditions  of  the  state  had  altered,  yet  we 
see  that  under  Thothmes  III.  the  royal  bark 
bears  the  same  name,  “ Star  of  the  two  coun- 
tries,” as  the  bark  of  King  Chufu  fifteen 
hundred  years  previously.5 * 

We  have  as  yet  considered  the  king  only 
from  his  official  side,  as  a demigod  high 
above  all  other  human  beings.  This  de- 
scendant of  the  Sun-god  was  also  however, 
in  spite  of  his  divine  nature,  a private  indi- 
vidual ; so  that  although  nominally  the  whole 
country  belonged  to  him,  yet,  at  any  rate  under  the  Old  Empire,  he  had 
his  own  private  property,  the  “ house  of  the  palace,”  which  had  its  own 
administration  0 and  perhaps  its  own  storehouse  ‘ and  its  own  court  of 
justice.s  As  the  Pharaoh  had  his  own  property  although  in  theory  all 
the  country  belonged  to  him,  so  also  he  had  his  own  consorts  although, 
according  to  ancient  ideas,  all  the  wives  of  his  subjects  were  his.9 

There  was  only  one  legal  wife,  the  queen  ; she  was  of  royal  or  of 
high  noble  birth,  and  indeed  she  may  have  been  the  “ daughter  of  the 
god”10  i.e.  of  the  late  king,  and  therefore  the  sister  of  her  husband.  Her 
titles  testify  to  her  rank  at  court  ; the  queen  of  the  Old  Empire  is  called  : 

1 We  find  this  axe  certainly  in  the  time  of  the  l8th  dynasty,  L.  D.,  iii.  98,  104,  105  ; later  it  is 
often  wanting. 

2 L.  D.,  iii.  92.  There  is  no  difference  between  standards  and  fans,  they  serve  for  both,  L.  D. , 

iii.  100  b.  3 L.  D.,  iii.  101.  4 L.  D.,  iii.  98.  5 L.  D.,  iii.  17  a,  cp.  L.  D.,  ii.  18  ft 

8 For  the  various  grades  in  this  department  of  <~~=>  the  inscriptions  onwards  from 

L.  D.,  ii.  49  ff,  55  ff.  will  be  found  specially  instructive.  7 Mar.  Mast.,  ioo. 

8 Mar.  Mast.,  70.  9 Pyramid  of  Un’es,  1.  629.  10  R-  J-  H.,  153. 


INSIGNIA  OF  HIGH  RANK  UNDER 
THE  NEW  EMPIRE. 


74 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP.  IV 


“ She  who  sees  the  gods  Horus  and  Set  ” (i.e.  the  possessor  of  both  halves 
of  the  kingdom) 

“ the  most  pleasant, 

.the  highly  praised, 
the  friend  of  Horus, 

the  beloved  of  him  who  wears  the  two  diadems.”  1 
The  queen  under  the  New  Empire  is  called — 

“ The  Consort  of  the  god, 

the  mother  of  the  god, 

the  great  consort  of  the  King  ; ” 2 

and  her  name  is  enclosed  like  that  of  her  husband  in  a cartouche. 

The  queen  appears  as  a rule  to  have  been  of  equal  birth  with  her  hus- 
band ; she  took  her  share  in  all  honours.  Unfortunately  the  monuments 
always  treat  her  as  an  official  personage,  and  therefore  we  know  scarcely 
anything  of  what  took  place  in  the  “ rooms  of  the  royal  wife.”  3 The  artists 
of  the  heretic  king  Chuen’eten  alone  emancipate  themselves  from  con- 
ventionalities, and  give  us  a scene  out  of  the  family  life  of  the  Pharaoh. 
We  see  him  in  an  arbour  decked  with  wreaths  of  flowers  sitting  in  an  easy 
chair,  he  has  a flower  in  his  hand,  the  queen  stands  before  him  pouring  out 
wine  for  him,  and  his  little  daughter  brings  flowers  and  cakes  to  her  father.4 

After  the  death  of  her  husband  the  queen  still  played  her  part  at 
court,  and  as  royal  mother  had  her  own  property,  which  wras  under 
special  management.0  Many  of  the  queens  had  divine  honours  paid  to 
them  even  long  after  their  deaths, — two  especially  at  the  beginning  of  the 
New  Empire,  ‘Ah-hotep  and  'Ahmose  Nefert’ere,  were  thus  honoured  ; they 
were  probably  considered  as  the  ancestresses  of  the  I 8th  dynasty. 

Besides  the  chief  royal  consort,  and  other  consorts,  the  Pharaoh 
possessed  a harem,6  whose  inmates,  the  secluded , under  the  supervision 
of  an  ancient  matron,'  attended  to  the  pleasures  of  the  monarch.  High 
officials,  e.g.  the  “governor  of  the  royal  harem, ”s  the  scribe  of  the  same,9 
the  “ delegate  for  the  harem  ”10  looked  after  its  administration,  and  a number 
of  doorkeepers  prevented  the  ladies  from  holding  useless  intercourse  with 
the  outer  world.11  These  secluded  were  some  of  them  maidens  of  good 
Egyptian  family,  but  many  were  foreign  slaves.  King  Amenhotep  III. 


1 Mar.  Mast.,  183,  208,  225,  R.  J.  H.,  153. 


2 L.  D.,  iii.  132  o. 


3 These  “ nest  suten  f j enta  hemt  suten  ” have  a special  administration  : L.  D.,  iii. 

242  d. ; see  also  ib.  100  d.  4 L.  D.,  iii.  98.  5 L.  D.,  iii.  100  d. 

6 The  harem  is  called  f OfKPl  I i (Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab. , 686)  ^ i i (ib.  719)  under 


the  New  Empire 


33 


III  \ cs  33 

I 1 . The  name  which  occurs  frequently 


1 


<2 


, seems  to  signify 


the  family  dwelling-house  in  a wider  sense,  as  the  children  (ib.  702)  and  the  mother  (L.  D.,  iii. 
100  d.)  of  the  king  reside  in  it. 

7 Mar.  Mast.,  138  ff.  8 P.  J.  T.,  4,  4 ; L.  D.,  iii.  242  d (a  higher  officer). 

9 P.  J.  T.,  4,  5.5,  10  (N.  E.) ; Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  686.719  (M.  E.)  10  P.  J.  T.,  5,  9. 

11  Stele  of  Kefnen  under  Amenemhe‘t  III.  (L.  A.,  “ Mus.  Eg.,  70”),  P.  J.  T.,  5,  1.  All  these 
harem  officials  are  themselves  married,  and  therefore  are  not  eunuchs. 


IHII3 


kS 

/4i 

RAMSES  II.,  ACCOMPANIED  BY  MIS  SONS,  STORMS  A SYRIAN  TORTRESS. 

The  Princes  Ment'uherchopshet  and  Cha'emuese  are  engaged  in  the  hand-to-hand  mclde  ; the  Princes  Meryamun,  Antenemu'ea,  Sety  and  Setpenrc*  are  in  command  near  the 
penthouses  under  which  the  troops  advance  to  the  attack  ; two  princes  (unnamed)  have  climbed  up  the  scaling  ladders.  (After  L.  D.,  iii.  166. ) 


7 6 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


received  as  a gift  from  a certain  prince  of  Naharina,  his  eldest  daughter 
and  317  maidens,  the  choicest  of  the  secluded}  We  see  from  this  state- 
ment what  a crowd  of  women  must  have  lodged  in  the  house  of  the 
women  belonging  to  the  court  of  Pharaoh. 

We  know  scarcely  anything  of  the  harem  life,  except  that  the  inmates 
had  to  provide  musical  entertainments  for  the  monarch.  On  one  occa- 
sion only  a king  allows  us  a glimpse  into  his  harem  ; in  the  building  in 
front  of  the  great  temple  of  Medinet  Habu  we  see  representations  of 
Ramses  III.  with  his  ladies.2  They,  as  well  as  their  master,  are  dressed 
solely  in  sandals  and  necklets,  they  wear  the  coiffure  of  royal  children, 
and  therefore  some  scholars  have  thought  them  to  be  the  daughters  of  the 
king.  But  why  should  the  daughters  of  Ramses  III.  be  depicted  here 
and  not  his  sons?  It  is  also  quite  contrary  to  Egyptian  custom  to  repre- 
sent the  members  of  the  royal  family  with  no  names  appended.  We  can 
therefore  conscientiously  consider  these  slender  pretty  ladies  to  be  those 


who  plotted  the  great  conspiracy  against  the  throne  of  Ramses  III.  of 
which  we  have  spoken  above.  In  these  pictures  no  indication  is  given  of 
this  plot ; the  ladies  play  the  favourite  game  of  draughts  peacefully  with 
their  master,  they  bring  him  flowers,  and  eat  fruit  with  him. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  was  natural  that  posterity  should  not 
fail  the  Egyptian  kings,  though  all  did  not  have  so  many  children  as 
Ramses  II.,  of  whom  we  read  that  he  had  200  children;  of  these  ill 
sons  and  59  daughters  are  known  to  us.3  In  the  older  periods  at  any 
rate  special  revenues 4 were  put  aside  for  the  maintenance  of  these 
princes.  Under  the  Old  Empire  they  also  received  government  appoint- 
ments, c.g.  one  called  the  “treasurer  of  the  god  ”5  had  to  fetch  the  granite 
blocks  out  of  the  quarries  of  the  desert  ; others  officiated  as  high  priests 
in  the  temple  of  Heliopolis, e and  others  again  (bearing  the  title  of  “ prince 
of  the  blood,”  erpa'te')  became  the  “ chief  judges  ” or  the  “ scribes  of  the  divine 

1 A.  Z.,  1880,  p.  82. 

2 L.  D.,  iii.  208  a.  b.  d.  The  uraeus  snake  in  d.  ought  certainly  to  be  a flower. 

:i  L.  D.,  iii.  179;  Mar.  Abyd.,  i.  4.  4 L.  D.,  26,  53. 

5 R.  J.  II.,  89.  L.  D.,  ii.  1 8.  Mar.  Mast.,  188  f.  6 L.  D.,  ii.  22  c.  Mar.  mon,  div.,  18. 


IV 


THE  KING  AND  HIS  COURT 


77 


book,”1  and  nearly  all  of  them  were,  in  addition,  “ Chief  reciter-priests  of 
their  father,”  and  belonged,  as  “ governors  of  the  palace,”  to  his  inner 
circle  of  courtiers. 

Under  the  New  Empire,  when  the  army  came  more  to  the  fore,  they 
preferred  to  be  invested  with  military  titles,  and  were  called  the  generals 
of  their  father.  They  assisted  zealously  at  the  battles,  and  were  the  first 
to  venture  up  the  ladders  when  a castle  was  stormed  ; at  least  so  the  official 
representations  of  battles  inform  us.2  Those  even  who  devoted  them- 
selves to  the  priestly  profession,  and  who  in  their  old  age  were  high 
priests,  as  Cha’emuese  the  pious  son  of  Ramses  II.,  were  not  excluded  in 
their  youth  from  taking  part  in  the  battles.3 

The  princes,  or,  as  they  are  called  under  the  New  Empire,  the  “ divine 
offspring,” 4 can  be  recognised  by  their  robes. 

In  later  times  they  also  retained  during  their 
lifetime  the  side -lock,  the  old  badge  of  child- 
hood, though  not  in  its  original  form,  for  instead 
of  a plaited  lock  of  hair,  they  wore  a fringed 
band. 

The  princes  were  brought  up  in  the  home 
of  their  father,  and  in  a special  part  of  the 


palace,  the  shep  Qfg==^  ! their  tutor  Jd  ^5=^  "’ho 

was  one  of  the  highest  court  officials,  was  called, 
strange  to  say,  their  nurse.  Pahri,  the  prince  of  El 
Kab  under  Amenhotep  I.,  was  nurse  to  the  prince 
Uad'mes;5 *  Semnut,  the  favourite  of  Queen 
Chnemt-amun,  was  nurse  to  the  princess  Ra’no- 
fru  ; b and  Heqerneheh,  a grandee  at  the  court  of 
Amenhotep  II.,  had  the  care  of  the  education  of 
the  heir- apparent,  Thothmes  II.,  and  of  seven 
other  princes.'  In  addition  to  these  male  nurses, 
the  real  female  nurse  played  an  important  part 
at  court,  e.g.  at  the  court  of  the  heretic  king 

Chuen’eten,  the  “ great  nurse  who  nourished  the  god  and  decked  the 
king”  was  an  influential  personage.8  “Decking  the  king”  signifies  some 
duty  the  nurse  performed  at  the  coronation  ; in  the  time  of  the  Middle 
Empire  a “ keeper  of  the  diadem  ” boasts  that  he  had  “ nourished  the 
god  and  beautified  the  Horus,  the  lord  of  the  palace.”9 

There  was  a pretty  custom  in  the  time  of  the  Old  and  Middle  Empire  : 
the  king  allowed  other  boys  to  be  educated  at  court  with  his  own  sons. 


A SON  OF  RAMSES  III.,  THE 
FAN,  SYMBOLIC  OF  RANK,  IN 
HIS  HAND.  (L.  D.,  iii.  214.) 

(Cp.  also  the  representations  of 
two  princes  in  the  vignette  on 
page  51,  preceding  chapter.) 


1 L.  D.,  ii.  15,  34  g.,  41  f. ; R.  J.  H.,  65,  and  L.  D.,  ii.  12  f. ; Mar.  Mast.,  178  f. 

2 L.  D.,  iii.  166;  cp.  alsoib.,  154,  156.  3 L.  D.,  iii.  166. 

4 L.  D.,  iii.  176  b.  Pap.  Mallet,  4,  1. 

0 L.  D.,  iii.  10  b.  The  above  date  is  not  quite  certain. 

6 L.  D.,  iii.  25.  7 L.  D.,  iii.  69.  Other  tutors,  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  702,  703  (M.E.),  iio3(N.E.). 

8 L.  D.,  iii.  105  f.  9 Stele  of  a Chent-em-sete  from  Abydos  (L.  A.). 


78 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP.  IV 


Ptahshepses,  who  later  became  high  priest  of  Memphis,  was  brought  up 
by  king  Menkare*  “ amongst  the  royal  children  in  the  great  house  of  the 
king,  in  the  room  and  dwelling-place  of  the  king,  and  was  preferred  by 
the  king  before  all  the  other  boys.”  When  Menkare'  died,  Shepseskaf, 
who  succeeded  him,  kept  him  amongst  the  princes  and  honoured  him 
before  all  the  other  youths.  When  Ptahshepses  became  a man,  his 
Majesty  gave  him  “the  great  royal  daughter  Ma‘tcha‘  to  wife,  and  his 
Majesty  wished  her  to  live  with  him  rather  than  with  any  other  man.”1 
It  was  the  same  under  the  Middle  Empire,  for  a nomarch  of  Siut  relates 
with  pride  how  he  had  received  swimming  lessons2  with  the  royal  children, 
and  a high  officer  of  the  palace  boasts  that  as  a child  “ he  had  sat  at  the 
feet  of  the  king,  as  a pupil  of  Horus,  the  lord  of  the  palace.”3  Another 
man  relates  :4  “ His  Majesty  seated  me  at  his  feet  in  my  youth,  and  pre- 
ferred me  to  all  my  companions.  His  Majesty  was  pleased  to  grant  me 
daily  food,  and  when  I walked  with  him,  he  praised  me  each  day  more 
than  he  had  the  day  before,  and,”  he  continues,  “ I became  a real  relative 
of  the  king.”  These  last  words  are  easy  of  explanation  : the  same  honour 
was  bestowed  upon  him  as  upon  Ptahshepses — he  received  one  of  the 
daughters  of  the  king  for  his  wife. 


In  the  time  of  the  Old  Elmpire  we  continually  meet  with  these 


“ royal  relatives,”  holding  different  dignities  and  offices.  We  can  rarely 
discover  what  their  relationship  was  to  the  king,  and  we  suspect  that  those 
who  were  only  distantly  connected  with  the  royal  family  made  use  of  this 
title  which  had  formerly  been  given  to  their  ancestors.  Under  the  I 2th 
dynasty,  it  is  expressly  stated  when  any  one  was  a “ real  royal  relative,” 
and  the  words  “ royal  relative,”  when  used  alone,  began  to  have  an 
ambiguous  meaning. 


1 R.  J.  H.,  79.  - R.  J.  H.  289=  Mar.  mon.  div.,  68  d. 

3 Stele  of  a Nebpu-Usertesen  from  Abydos  (L.  A.). 

4 Stele  of  a Chent-em-sete  from  same  place  (L.  A.). 


A KING  OFFERS  WINE  BEFORE  THE  SPHINX,  THE  EMBLEM  OF  KOVAL  DIGNITY. 


EGYPTIAN  ORNAMENTATION  FOR  A CEILING. 
Consisting  of  Conventional  Lotus  Flowers. 


CHAPTER  V 

POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  IN  EGYPT  UNDER  THE  OLD  EMPIRE 

In  the  following  pages  I shall  endeavour  to  give  a sketch  of  the 
constitution  of  the  Egyptian  state,  as  it  existed  at  the  different  historical 
periods  ; at  the  same  time  I must  beg  my  learned  reader  to  consider  how 
many  are  the  difficulties  connected  with  this  first  attempt,  especially  with  the 
treatment  of  the  most  ancient  period.  The  tombs  of  the  Old  Empire  may 
indeed  faithfully  give  us  the  names  of  all  the  offices  held  by  the  deceased, 
but  even  if  we  work  our  way  patiently  through  these  wearisome  lists  of 
empty  titles,  we  are  scarcely  any  the  wiser  for  our  trouble.  Out  of  thirty 
or  more  titles  borne  by  one  of  these  great  men,  we  may  perhaps  understand 
the  meaning  of  twenty,  but  there  will  be  barely  ten  of  which  we  can  say 
what  duties  belonged  to  the  office  designated  by  a certain  title.  Still 
less  do  we  know  which  was  the  principal  office  held  by  the  deceased,  or 
what  connection  there  was  between  all  his  various  dignities.  These  great 
men  nearly  always  contented  themselves  with  enumerating  with  evident 
delight  a bare  list  of  titles,  given  them  by  the  gracious  favour  of  the 
king.  They  call  themselves  “ Governor  of  the  town,”  “ Director  of  the 
land,”  and  “ Chief  prophet,”  but  they  do  not  tell  us  where  the  town,  the 
land,  or  the  temple  was  situated  over  which  they  ruled  ; nor  do  they  say 
what  were  the  duties  they  had  to  perform.  If  we  read  the  long  list  of 
titles  in  the  tomb  of  “ Un’e  the  prince,  the  administrator  of  the  south,  the 
chief  reciter-priest,  the  nearest  friend  of  the  king,  the  leader  of  great  men, 
the  sub-director  of  the  prophets  of  the  pyramids  of  King  Pepy  and  King 
Merenre',  the  director  of  the  treasure-houses,  the  scribe  of  the  drinks,  the 
superintendent  of  the  two  fields  of  sacrifice,”1  etc.,  we  should  never  realise 
that  this  was  the  man  of  whom  we  read  in  another  inscription,  that  his 


1 R.  J.  H.,  2. 


So 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


duties  were  to  order  stone  to  be  cut  for  the  pyramid  of  the  king  and  to 
examine  all  the  state  property.  Still  less  should  we  guess  that  in  his  youth 
Un’e  officiated  as  a judge,  and  that  later  he  commanded  the  Egyptian 
army  in  a dangerous  war.  His  titles  in  no  way  indicate  what  were 
the  most  famous  achievements  of  his  life,  and  meanwhile  others  who  bear 
the  title  of  “ Commander  of  the  soldiers  ” may  never  have  been  in  action. 

The  materials  we  possess  for  the  period  of  the  Middle  Empire  are 
rather  more  satisfactory,  and  much  that  is  good  exists  for  that  of  the 
New  Empire,  but  unfortunately  only  a small  part  is  as  yet  accessible. 
Great  research  has  been  necessary  to  put  together  even  this  short  account 
of  the  history  of  the  Egyptian  government  ; the  essential  features  are 
probably  fairly  accurate,  the  details  will  naturally  in  the  future  require 
rectifying  and  supplementing.  The  classical  writers  and  the  inscriptions  of 
the  later  temples  agree  in  informing  us  of  the  traditional  division  of  Egypt 
into  about  forty  provinces,  and  the  monuments  of  the  earlier  periods  show 
us  that  this  was  in  fact  an  old  national  division  : many  of  the  names  of 
these  provinces  occurring  in  the  inscriptions  of  the  Old  Empire.  The 
basis  alone  of  this  division  remained  unchanged  ; in  certain  particulars 
there  were  many  alterations  and  fluctuations,  eg.  in  the  number  and  in 
the  boundaries  of  the  provinces,  especially  in  the  Delta,  which  appears 
later  to  have  been  entirely  divided  into  twenty  provinces,  in  imitation  of 
the  twenty  provinces  of  Upper  Egypt.  In  the  Delta,  where  under  the 


Old  Empire  there  was  but  one  province,1  jUU,  we  find  later  an  eastern 


and  a western  province,  and  in  another  case,  the  province 


^jxj^  , of  which 


part  was  called  the  “ west  country,”  was  later  divided  into  a northern 
and  a southern  province.  In  later  times  we  hear  nothing  of  other  ancient 
provinces,  such  as  the  “east  province,”  or  the  east  and  west  crocodile 
provinces,  at  any  rate  not  under  those  names.  In  the  same  way  our 
knowledge  of  the  divisions  of  the  Delta  under  the  Middle  Empire  2 3 agrees 
in  general  features  but  not  in  details  with  the  later  division. 

Under  the  Middle  and  also  under  the  Old  Empire,  each  province  was 
the  seat  of  an  ancient  noble  family,  who  for  generations  inherited  the 
government  and  the  high -priesthood  of  its  temple.11  It  is  true  that 
these  provincial  princes  could  only  actually  bequeath  to  their  children 
the  family  estate  and  the  membership  in  the  priestly  college  of  their 
native  temple  ; but  if  there  were  no  special  circumstances  against  it,  the 
Pharaoh  would  always  bestow  the  government  on  the  great  landowner  of 
the  province,  and  in  choosing  their  high  priest,  the  priests  could  scarcely 


1 Provinces  of  the  Old  Empire  : L.  D.,  ii.  3-7  ; R.  J.  H.,  95  ; Mar.  Mast.,  437. 

- The  inscriptions  of  Beni  Hasan,  Siut,  and  Bersheh  are  especially  instructive  for  the  provinces 
of  the  Middle  Empire. 

3 Cp.  with  the  inscriptions  of  Beni  Hasan,  what  I have  ascertained  from  the  texts  of  Siut,  A.  Z., 
1882,  p.  16 1 f.  The  nomarchs  of  the  Old  Empire  are  easily  recognisable  by  their  titles,  yet  they 
do  not  usually  state  their  place  of  residence  ; we  cannot  therefore  determine  whether  the  governor- 
ship of  the  provinces  was  hereditary. 


V 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  OLD  EMPIRE 


81 


pass  over  the  richest  and  most  important  personage  amongst  them.  At 
any  rate  in  his  own  town  they  would  leave  him  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
titles  of  his  ancestors,  even  if  he  himself  did  not  perform  all  the  duties. 
It  has  been  conjectured,  with  great  probability,  that  these  provinces  with 
their  nobility,  their  coats-of-arms  and  their  own  militia,  were  the  remains 
of  independent  little  princedoms,  and  that  therefore  they  represent  the 
most  ancient  political  state  of  the  country.  Such  a period  must  be  of 
great  antiquity,  for  other  conditions  seem  to  lie  at  the  root  of  the  political 
constitution  of  the  Old  Empire,  which,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  appears  to  have  consisted  of  two  kingdoms,  connected  by  the 
bond  of  personal  union.  The  government  of  the  two  states  remained 
separate,  and  only  once  under  the  Old  Empire  do  we  meet  with  a high 
official  who  united  in  his  person  the  governorship  of  the  whole  country, 
viz.  Kagemn’e,  the  “ director  of  the  whole  country,  of  the  south  and  of 
the  north.”  1 

As  a rule  the  twofold  division  was  always  maintained  ; the  whole 
government  was  split  up  into  “ two  houses,”  and  the  temple  property,  or  the 
public  lands,  belonged  to  the  “ two  houses,  the  southern  and  the  northern.”2 
In  theory  all  state  property  was  divided  into  two  parts,  and  the  high 
officials,  whose  province  it  was  to  superintend  the  treasury  or  the  granaries, 
were  always  called  the  superintendents  of  the  “ two  houses  of  silver,”  or  of 
the  “ two  storehouses.”3 4  Even  if  the  treasury  or  granary  contained  the 
revenues  of  but  one  province  or  of  one  town,  they  yet  formed  part  of  the 
two  “ houses  of  silver,”  or  of  the  two  storehouses  which  received  the 
revenues  of  the  two  countries.  The  royal  jewels  were  also  prepared  in 
“ two  workshops,”  and  kept  in  “ two  houses  of  gold  ; ”*  the  two  abodes  of 
food  ” were  for  the  maintenance  of  the  living,  the  “ two  fields  of  sacrifice  ”5 
for  that  of  the  dead.  Originally  the  war  department  was  double,  but 
in  early  times  they  seem  here  to  have  felt  the  need  of  concentration,  for 
the  single  form  6 is  more  often  used  than  the  double  for  this  department 
as  well  as  for  the  king’s  court,  and  for  the  courts  of  law. 

The  system  of  government  as  far  as  we  can  judge  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  quite  the  same  for  the  two  halves  of  the  kingdom  ; eg.  while  the 
“great  men  of  the  south”  ruled  over  Upper  Egypt,  there  do  not  seem  to 
have  been  any  corresponding  “ great  men  of  the  north.”  Each  state  may 
have  maintained  its  former  organisation  even  after  the  union.  At  the 
same  time  we  know  so  little  of  the  Delta  under  the  Old  Empire,  that  it  is 
impossible  to  form  a decisive  opinion ; we  shall  therefore  confine  ourselves 

1 L.  D. , ii.  97  b,  perhaps  identical  with  the  old  wise  man  of  the  same  name,  mentioned  in  the 
papyrus  Prisse. 

- Temple  estate  : 1 1 L.  D.,  ii.  8S.  Fields:  Mar.  Mast.,  1 1 5. 

3 Houses  ’of  Silver:  L.  D.,  ii.  45  ff.,  73  ff.,  77  ff.  ; Mar.  Mast.,  124  ff.,  228  ff.  Granaries: 
L.  D.,  ii.  45  ff.,  73  ff.,  77  ff. 

4 Workshops : L.  D.,  ii.  45  ff.  ; Mar.  Mast.,  1 24  ff.,  228  ff.  ; Houses  of  gold  : L.  D.,  ii.  75,  103. 

5 Abodes  of  food  : L.  D.,  ii.  27  ff.  ; Mar.  Mast.,  228  ff.  Fields  of  sacrifice  : R.  J.  H.,  2. 

8 Double  : L.  D.,  ii.  73  ff.  Single  : Mar.  Mast.,  214  ff. , 228  ff. 

G 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


in  the  following  pages  to  the  conditions  in  Upper  Egypt,  which  certainly 
played  the  chief  part  politically. 

Upper  Egypt,  officially  styled  “ the  South,”  was  divided  into  a great 
number  of  districts,  each  possessing  local  government.  We  do  not  know 
how  far  these  were  identical  with  the  provinces  of  the  country.  There 
were  altogether  thirty  “ great  men  of  the  south,”  1 many  of  these,  however, 
had  a merely  nominal  share  in  the  government,  their  district  consisting 
of  the  “desert,”  the  “ Nile,”  or  the  “ fisheries.” 

These  governors,  who  always  bore  the  proud  title  of  “ First  under  the 

king,”  I jj^,  had  a double  function,  judicial  and  administrative.  The  governor 

was  the  judge,  and  the  chief  of  the  district  (as  perhaps  the 

latter  title  may  be  translated) 2 in  his  department,  and  if  a large  town 


number  of  lesser  offices  were  apparently  connected  with  this  principal 
one ; we  say  apparently , because  for  the  most  part  these  lesser  offices  were 
only  empty  titles.  The  members  of  this  ancient  bureaucracy  were  fond 
of  creating  a special  title  for  each  function  of  their  judicial  or  administra- 
tive work  ; for  instance,  they  had  to  pass  on  the  royal  orders  to  their 
district  or  their  town,  they  therefore  entitled  themselves  “ Privy  coun- 
cillor of  the  royal  orders,”  and  as  their  duty  consisted  in  directing  the 
public  works,  they  called  themselves  “ Superintendent  of  the  works  of  the 
king”  and  “Superintendent  of  the  royal  commissions.”  If  they  collected 
the  taxes  of  corn  and  cattle,  or  commanded  the  local  militia,  they  bore 
the  title  of  “ Superintendent  of  the  sacrificial  and  provision  houses,”  or 
“Superintendent  of  the  war  department”;  if  they  had  an  office  for  the 
different  secretaries,  connected  with  their  government  or  judicial  work, 
they  then  assumed  the  title  of  “ Superintendent  of  the  royal  scribes,”  or 
“ Superintendent  of  the  legal  writers.”  In  addition,  they  had  various 
priestly  duties.  As  judges,  they  were  priests  of  Ma’t  the  goddess  of 
truth  ; their  loyalty  constrained  them  to  be  priests  of  the  king  and  of  his 
ancestors  ; finally,  they  were  almost  always  invested  (I  know  not  why)  with 
the  office  of  prophet  of  the  frog-headed  goddess  Heqt.3 

We  do  not  know  how  large  a district  was  governed  by  one  of  the 
“ great  men  of  the  south  ” ; it  was  certainly  not  a whole  province.  The 

fib 

great  chiefs  of  many  provinces  belong,  however,  to  this  collegiate 


the  later  quotations,  they  were  exactly  the  same  as  judges,  though  originally  they  were  so  only  inci- 
dentally ; what  Diodorus  (i.  75)  says  about  the  choice  of  these  thirty  judges  by  the  three  towns  of 
Thebes,  Memphis,  and  Heliopolis,  can  at  most  apply  only  to  the  latest  epoch. 

2 L.  D.,  ii.  3,  shows  that  this  title  does  not  signify  (as  Brugsch  maintains)  “Inspector  of  the 
canals  and  dykes,”  but  has  a more  general  sense.  (Cp.  also  ibi  100  b,  where  this  title  follows  that 
of  “Superintendent  of  the  desert.”) 

3 Titles  of  Chiefs  of  the  Districts,  e.g.  L.  D.,  ii.  3 ff.,  27  ff.,  60  ff.,  72,  84,  88  ; Mar.  Mast.,  118  ff., 
164  ff.,  211-214  ff.,  243  ff.  ; R.  J.  H.,  52,  77-86. 


were  situated  in  the  latter,  he  was  also 


town.  A 


Cp.  the  interesting  passages  quoted  by  Brugsch,  Die.  Suppl.,  927  ff.  According  to 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  OLD  EMPIRE 


83 


v 


number  ; 1 the  “ great  one  of  the  south,”  ‘Amt'en  a contemporary  of  King 
Snofru,  was  prince  of  the  17th  province,  prince  of  the  eastern  Feyum, 
and  possessed  in  addition  the  dignity  of  district  chief  in  several  of  the 
provinces  of  the  Delta.2  On  the  other  hand,  there  were  “ great  men  of 
the  south,”  who  had  no  administrative  duties  in  the  south,  and  who  yet, 
by  special  favour  of  the  king,  were  considered  members  of  the  collegiate 
assembly,  e.g.  Ra’hotep,  the  high  priest  of  Heliopolis,  a town  scarcely 
belonging  to  the  south ; the  departments  over  which  he  ruled  as  “ district 
chief”  were  certainly  peculiar  : they  were  the  fisheries  and  the  Nile/ 
The  government  of  these  departments  was  given  to  him,  in  order  that  a 
personage  so  important  should  have  a seat  in  the  great  council  ; a seat  was 
also  generally  given  to  the  superintendent  of  the  agricultural  department. 

The  thirty  were  not  all  of  equal  rank,  for  some  were  deputy  superin- 
tendents,4 and  at  the  head  of  all  stood  the  distinguished  “ governor  of 
the  south.”  This  was  a very  high  office  ; after  Un’e,  the  favourite  of 
King  Pepy,  had  served  the  king  faithfully  many  years,  and  had  risen  to 
high  honour,  Merenre*,  the  successor  of  Pepy,  appointed  the  worthy  old  man 
to  be  “Governor  of  the  south”  and  “Chief  of  the  great  men,”  and  gave 
him  at  the  same  time  the  rank  of  prince.  Un’e  relates  that  this  was  a 
token  of  special  favour,  and  that  he  strove  by  his  good  government  of 
the  south  to  show  himself  worthy  of  the  confidence  of  his  master.  He 
apportioned  the  duties  justly,  and  twice  he  ordered  the  registration  of  all 
the  properties  and  revenues  which  the  king  possessed  in  the  south.  This 
had  never  been  done  before,  and  on  account  of  his  energy  Un’e  was  then 
named  “ real  governor  of  the  south  ” ; i.e.  his  office  was  not  merely  nominal, 
as  had  perhaps  been  the  case  with  many  of  his  predecessors.  As  we  have 
seen,  this  honour  was  given  by  special  royal  favour  ; not  long  before  the 
time  of  Un’e  it  had  been  bestowed  upon  a nomarch  of  the  15  th  province 
of  Upper  Egypt.5 

We  know  little  of  the  government  of  the  “ north  country,”  the  Delta. 
Under  the  Middle  Empire  we  meet  with  a “ governor  of  the  north  country.” 
This  dignity  may  have  existed  in  an  older  period,  although  it  is  strange 
that  the  title  never  occurs  amongst  the  numberless  titles  in  the  older 
tombs.  The  Delta  was  also  governed  by  district  chiefs,  as  is 

shown  by  the  inscriptions  in  the  tomb  of  the  above-mentioned  ‘Amt'en, 
the  “ great  man  of  the  south,”  6 the  same  tomb,  which  now  forms  one  of 
the  chief  treasures  of  the  Berlin  Museum.  ‘Amt'en  governed  the  17th 
province  and  the  eastern  half  of  the  Feyum  in  the  south,  but  in  his 


1 E.g.  the  nomarch  of  the  15th  province  : L.  D.,  ii.  113.  2 L.  D.,  ii.  3-7. 

3 Mar.  mon.  div.  18.  In  the  same  way  a somewhat  later  colleague  of  the  same.  L.  D. , ii.  22  c. 

L.  D.,  ii.  61  a;  Mar.  Mast.,  164  ff. 

5 Inscriptions  of  Un’e  : A.  Z.,  1882,  p.  20  f.  R.  J.  H.,  2.  Others  holding  this  office  : L.  D.,  ii. 
60  ff.,  1 13. 

6 L.  D.,  ii.  3-7  ; in  every  way  an  important  but  very  difficult  inscription.  Amongst  other  things 
it  treats  of  the  landed  property  of  the  deceased,  and  the  part  taken  from  it  for  the  funerary  worship. 


84 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


tomb  these  appointments  are  not  to  be  compared  to  those  which  he 
possessed  in  the  Delta,  where  he  was  “ Prince  of  the  great  house  ” in 
perhaps  a dozen  large  towns.  It  is  not  certain  whether  he  had  actually 
to  govern  the  towns  or  only  the  crown  property,  the  property  of  the  “ great 
house”  contained  in  them.  His  position  was  at  all  events  very  important, 
for  it  constituted  him  “ district  chief  in  the  province  of  each  town.”  In 
this  way  he  ruled  the  sacred  city  of  Dep 1 (the  later  Buto),  the  “ city  of 
the  two  dogs  ” in  the  province  of  Mendes,  several  towns  in  the  province  of 
Sal's,  the  town  Sent  in  the  east  of  the  Delta  and  others.  In  each  of  these 
provinces  he  was  also  a “ district  chief,”  and  in  the  country  to  the  west  of 


STATUE  OF  RA'hOtEP  IN  THE  MUSEUM  OF  GIZEH. 


Sal's,  where  he  governed  the  town  of  Hes-uar,  he  was  “ Prince  of  agricul- 
ture.” The  most  remarkable  of  his  towns  however  was  the  “ Cowhouse,” 
probably  situated  in  one  of  the  oases  (perhaps  the  modern  Farafrah).  As 
prince  of  this  town  he  was  district  chief  of  the  “ foreign  country,”  i.e.  the 
desert,  and  again  in  the  same  capacity  he  was  “chief  of  the  Beduins,”  and 
“ Master  of  the  hunt  ” of  the  king.  The  latter  was  his  favourite  distinc- 
tion, for  in  his  tomb  he  allowed  nothing  to  be  represented  except  the 
game  brought  in  by  his  servants.  Besides  his  administrative  duties,  ‘Amt'en 
as  usual  had  judicial  and  priestly  functions  to  perform  ; he  was  prophet 
and  leader  of  the  priests  of  various  divinities,  and  “agricultural  judge”  in 
the  “ province  of  the  Ox.” 

‘Amt'en  also  relates  to  us  the  history  of  his  career,  how  that  although 
1 Another  district  chief  of  this  town.  R.  J.  H.,  63,  65. 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  OLD  EMPIRE 


v 


85 


of  high  birth  (he  was  a “ royal  relative  ”)  he  was  obliged  to  work  his  way 
up  from  below.  He  was  at  first  “scribe  of  the  house  of  food”  (perhaps 
a superintendent  of  a provision  depot)  ; he  then  rose  gradually  to  be 
“district  chief”  and  “deputy  agricultural  judge”  in  the  “province  of  the 
Ox  ” in  the  west  of  the  Delta.  After  he  had  filled  various  positions, 
amongst  others  that  of  “ governor  of  all  the  royal  harvest,”  those  high 
dignities  were  bestowed  upon  him  which  he  retained  till  his  death. 

This  inscription  contains  almost  all  that  we  know  about  the  govern- 
ment of  the  north  country,  and  suffices  to  show  that  the  organisation  there 
was  less  traditional  than  in  the  south.  ‘Amt'en  received  such  and  such 
towns,  he  became  chief  in  certain  provinces,  but  he  acquired  none  of  those 
titles  and  additional  posts  which  were  always  connected  with  such  appoint- 
ments in  the  south.  He  ruled  the  province  of  Sals,  but  he  was  neither 
the  “superintendent  of  buildings”  nor  of  “commissions”  nor  of  “ writing 
affairs,” — titles  such  as  these  he  owed  to  his  districts  in  Upper  Egypt  ; an 
organised  bureaucracy  seems  to  have  been  unknown  in  the  Delta.  From 
these  facts  we  conclude  that  a great  difference  existed  between  the 
civilisation  of  the  two  halves  of  the  kingdom.  Upper  Egypt  possessed  a 
thoroughly  organised  ancient  administration,  while  simpler  conditions  held 
sway  in  Lower  Egypt. 

As  we  see  from  the  above  description,  the  constitution  of  the  Old 
Empire  was  one  of  decentralisation.  The  numerous  small  districts  into 
which  the  country  was  split  had  their  own  courts  of  justice,  their  own 
storehouses  for  corn,  and  their  own  militia.  The  central  power  which 
held  these  somewhat  loose  organisms  together  was  the  “ Chunu,” — the 
inner , i.e.  the  public  treasury  ; it  had  property  in  all  the  provinces  of 
the  country,  over  which  its  representative,  the  “ governor  of  the  south,” 
had  the  control,1  and  besides  the  treasure  houses  of  the  different  provinces, 
there  was  also  a central  finance  department,  which  at  the  same  time  had 
the  care  of  the  clothes  and  ornaments  of  the  monarch.  This  “ house  of 
silver  of  the  treasury  ” employed  numerous  men,  the  “ superintendent,”  the 
“ deputy-superintendent,”  and  the  “ scribes  of  the  house  of  silver,”  with 

their  chief.'  The  house  of  silver  cr^i  | belongs  however  to  the  great 

department  of  the  treasury  Q or  and  the  rank  of  lord  high 

treasurer  was  one  of  the  highest  in  the  kingdom  c£=\) . It  was 

his  duty  to  collect  and  value  all  precious  things  “ that  are  given  by 

heaven,  or  brought  forth  by  the  earth,  or  brought  down  by  the  Nile  ” ; 
perfumes  from  the  incense  countries,  minerals  from  the  mountains,  and 
costly  blocks  from  the  quarries.3  The  practical  work  of  the  department, 

1 R.  J.  H.,  2 ; A.  Z.,  1882,  p.  21. 

2 L.  D.,  ii.  100  c ; R.  J.  H.,  90;  Mar.  Mast.,  251  ff.  Cp.  also  ib.  233  ff. 

L.  D.,  ii.  149  c ; Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  654  ; Louvre,  C.  2.  Borchardt  has  shown  (A.  Z.,  1890, 

87-92)  that  O docs  not  signify  “ lord  high  treasurer,”  but  rather  denotes  a degree  of  rank, 

which  was  usually  borne  by  various  high  officials,  especially  by  the  “ Superintendent  of  the  treasury,” 


86 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


IcTCi. 


the  labour  of  obtaining  and  transporting  these  precious  things,  was 
generally  in  the  hands  of  the  second  officer,1  the  “ treasurer  of  the  god,” 

a half  military  rank  much  desired  by  the  sons  of  the  king. 

This  officer  must  have  been  a man  of  many  gifts 2 in  order  to  fulfil  the 
various  duties  which  were  expected  of  him.  His  expeditions  would  take 

him  into  the  deserts  and  into  hostile  coun- 
tries, he  was  -therefore  “ Superintendent  of 
the  infantry,”  and  of  the  “ house  of  war,” 
and  “ Chief  superintendent  of  the  young 
men.”  He  was  “ Superintendent  of  the 
shipping  ” in  order  to  command  the  trans- 
port ships,  and  therefore  the  care  of  the 
other  ships  of  the  kingdom  was  placed  in 
his  hands,  and  he  was  considered  the 
admiral  of  the  state.3  He  had  to  see  that 
the  blocks  were  dragged  through  the  desert, 
therefore  he  was  the  “ Superintendent  of  the 
gangs  of  workmen  of  the  god  ” ; and  as  his 
journeys  and  voyages  were  generally  under- 
taken for  the  royal  buildings,  he  was  also 
the  “ Superintendent  of  all  the  works  of  the 
king,”  or  “ of  his  commissions.” 

Other  departments  of  the  state  seem 
also  to  have  had  similar  central  superintend- 
ence, eg.  the  “ chief  of  the  granaries,”  who 
collected  the  corn  tax,  the  most  important 
part  of  the  customs.4  There  was  also  a 
central  department  for  the  superintendence 
of  agriculture,  which 
The 


PRINCE  MER-  EB. 

Treasurer  of  the  god,  under  King  Chufu 
(after  L.D.,  ii.  21). 


inundation  required  uniform  government. 


on  account  of  the 
“ superintendent  of 
agriculture,  and  of  the  scribes  of  agriculture,”  therefore  held  office  in 
of  the  south  and  that  of  the  north,”  i.e.  in  both 
In  the  same  way  for  the  forests  of  the  anterior 


“ both  houses,  that 
divisions  of  Egypt.5 

the  real  lord  high  treasurer. 


The 


C i 


ranks  between  the 


“ Prince  ” and  the 


f 


‘nearest  friend.” 


1 This  is  the  case  at  any  rate  under  the  Middle  Empire.  See  L.  D.,  ii.  137  a.  He  may  have 
been  called  “ treasurer  of  the  god  ” because  he  worked  specially  for  the  temples  and  tombs. 

2 Cp.  on  the  subject  of  these  officials,  A.  Z.,  1882,  p.  6 ; L.  D.,  ii.  18  ff.,  97  a,  100  b;  Mar. 
Mast.,  162,  188  ff.,  198  ff.  ; R.  J.  H.,  78,  89  ( = Mar.  Mast.,  191). 

3 At  Beni  Hasan  (L.  D.,  ii.  127)  he  commands  the  ship  which  conveys  the  body  of  the  nomarch  to 
Abydos. 

Pj  T*  | N/~~\/|  Mar.  Mast.,  108.  A superintendent  of  the  south  : L.  D.,  ii.  60  ff. 

Stele  of  a Sebekhotep  (Dyn.  VI.,  L.  A.).  A chief  judge  : L.  D.,  ii.  73  ff.,  77  ff.,  103  c. 

5 L.  D.,ii.  94d,  110c;  Mar.  Mast.,  104,  115,  135,  150;  R.  J.  H.,  85/101.  An  exception  is  made  in 
the  case  of  the  “superintendent  of  the  agricultural  scribes  of  the  Nome  of  the  Ox.”  Mar.  Mast.,  437. 


V 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  OLD  EMPIRE 


87 


country  (J.e.  the  boundary  district  between  Nubia  and  Egypt),  the  posses- 
sion of  which  was  of  importance  for  shipbuilding,  there  was  a special 
department,  at  the  head  of  which  stood  the  “ high  superintendent  of  the 
anterior  country  of  the  Pharaoh.”  1 

The  administration  of  justice  was  also  centralised.  We  meet  with 
the  office  of  judge  in  many  forms.  One  of  the  least  important 

of  the  judicial  posts,  one  often  held  by  sons  of  the  higher  judges,  was  that 


of  “judge  and  superintendent  of  the  scribes”2  [ 1 1 ' j|-  Another 
was  that  of  “judge  belonging  to  the  city  of  Nechent  ” ^ ; the 


latter  is  sometimes  said  to  assist  the  high-judge  “ on  all  secret  occasions,”  3 
a third  was  the  which  may  signify  the  judge  of  agriculture.4 

These  lower  judicial  appointments  were  held  as  a rule  by  the  “ great  men 
of  the  south”  or  by  their  sons,  and  their  jurisdiction  extended  over  the 
town  or  the  province  of  their  respective  great  lords.  All  the  judges 
belonged  to  one  of  the  “ six  great  houses,”  that  is,  to  one  of  the  great 
law-courts,  in  which  “ the  secret  words  ” were  discussed,0  and  the  chief  of 
these  great  men,  the  superintendent  of  the  south,  was  a member  of  all  the 
six.6  At  the  head  of  this  court  of  justice  ' stood  the  “ Chief  judge,” 


, who  was  at  the  head  of  the  whole  jurisdiction  of  the  country. 


The  chief  judge  was  always  of  very  high  birth  ; if  not  one  of  the  sons  of 
the  king,s  he  would  be  one  of  the  “high  priests  of  the  great  gods,”9  or  a 
“ hereditary  prince,”  10  or  at  least  a “ real  prince.”  11 

There  was  good  reason  for  this,  for  the  chief  judge  held  the  highest 
appointment  that  could  be  bestowed  under  the  Old  Empire.  He  was 
a 
I 


the 


T'ate,  the  chief  of  the  whole  administration — the  governor, 


or  as  we  may  translate  this  title,  the  “ leader  of  the  great  men  of  the 
south  and  of  the  north,”12  the  “second  after  the  king  in  the  court  of 
the  palace.”  13 

At  all  ages  of  Egyptian  history  this  was  the  most  popular  position  in 
the  kingdom.  When  the  poet  describes  the  palace  of  the  king,  he  adds, 


1 For  the 


■ na 


see  A.  Z.,  1882,  pp.  4,  8,  25,  26  (in  which  much  correction  is 

needed).  Br.  Die.  Suppl.,  944,  949;  L.  D.,  ii.  72,  88  c,  ink. 

2 For  the  sons  of  higher  judges,  see  Mar.  Mast.,  164  ff.,  214  ff.,  228  ff.  Other  examples,  R.  J.  IF, 
52,  78,  99  ; Mar.  Mast.,  158,  224  ; L.  D.,  ii.  43  ff.,  no  1— n. 

3 The  inscription  of  Un’e  is  specially  instructive  on  this  subject  (A.  Z.,  1882,  p.  2 ff. ).  Also 
R.J.  H.,  64;  L.  D.,  ii.  16. 

4 E.g.  R.  J.  H.,  5 ; Mar.  Mast.,  105.  Also  amongst  the  titles  of  ‘Amt'en,  L.  D.,  ii.  3 ff. 

* 


Mar.  Mast.,  70. 118  ff.,  164  ff.,  214  ff  ; L.  D.,  ii.  84. 


6 L.  D.,  ii.  60  ff  7 * L.  D.,  ii.  103  c,  77  ff  ; Mar.  Mast.,  124  ff , 228  ff 

8 L.  D.,  ii.  15,  34  g,  41  ff ; R.  J.  IF,  65.  9 R.  J.  H.,  96  f.,  153  f.  ; Mar.  Mast.,  149. 

10  L.  D.,  ii.  77  f.  11  L.  D.,  ii.  73  ff.  12  R.  J.  II.,  153  f.,  304.  13  R.  J.  H.,  303  f. 


88 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


fcHAP. 


that  in  it  there  “ rules  a governor  with  a merciful  heart  for  Egypt,”  1 and 
of  the  god  Amon  he  can  say  nothing  better  than  that  he  is  “ as  gracious 
towards  the  poor  as  a good  governor.”2  Even  the  sun-god  could  not 
carry  on  his  rule  without  the  help  of  a good  governor,  and  for  this  office 
he  chose  Thoth,  the  god  of  wisdom.3 

The  popular  idea  was  that  earthly  governors  and  chief  judges  ought 
to  vie  in  wisdom  with  their  heavenly  prototype  ; therefore  wise  sayings 
were  ascribed  to  wise  governors  of  old  time.  It  was  comprehensible  to 
the  naive  understanding  of  the  people  that  Kagemn’e  or  Ptah-hotep  should 
have  owed  their  high  position  as  judges  to  their  great  wisdom  ; they  even 
believed  that  the  excellent  sayings  of  the  former  on  the  “ being  of  man  ” 
had  induced  King  Snofru  to  name  him  governor  and  superintendent  of 
the  town.4  The  governors  also  cherished  high  ideas  about  their  own 
position — Ment'uhotep,  chief  judge  under  Usertsen  I.,  boasts  that  he  had 
“ charmed  the  heart  of  the  king  more  than  all  the  dwellers  in  the  two 
countries,  he  was  beloved  amongst  the  friends  of  the  king  and  mighty 
against  his  enemies,  full  of  power  in  the  two  countries,  and  the  first  in 
the  valleys  of  the  desert,  and  in  the  two  countries.  He  had  been  the 
only  one  loved  by  the  king,  without  any  equal,  great  men  came  to  him 
bowing  down  to  him,  and  all  the  people  rejoiced  in  his  light.” 

This  was  not  strange,  for  it  was  the  duty  of  Ment'uhotep  “ to  give 
the  laws,  to  promote  men  in  their  appointments,  to  adjust  the  places  for 
the  boundary  stones,  and  to  settle  the  quarrels  of  the  officials.  He  made 
peace  throughout  the  country,  as  a man  of  truth  in  the  two  countries,  a 
faithful  witness  like  the  god  Thoth.  He,  the  chief  of  the  judges,  through 
the  words  of  his  mouth,  caused  brothers  to  return  home  in  peace  ; the 
writings  of  Thoth  were  on  his  tongue  ; and  he  surpassed  in  righteousness 
the  little  tongue  of  the  balance.  He  knew  the  secrets  of  every  one  ; he 
listened  well  and  spoke  wisely  ; he  made  those  to  tremble  who  were  dis- 
posed to  be  hostile  to  the  king,  he  kept  the  barbarians  in  check,  and  made 
the  Beduins  to  live  in  peace.”  -l 

This  agrees  with  what  we  hear  of  the  governors  from  other  sources.  A 
certain  Amony-seneb,  priest  at  Abydos  under  the  I 3th  dynasty,  relates  to 
us  with  pride  that  the  governor  sent  his  clerk  to  him  as  a messenger  to 
summon  him,  he  went  with  the  clerk,  and  found  the  governor  in  his  own  hall, 
and  there  he  received  his  commission.6  Apparently  it  was  a great  honour 
for  a priest  of  lower  rank  to  be  summoned  into  the  direct  presence  of  the 
great  man.  Even  the  “great  men  of  the  south”  had  to  be  introduced  into 
his  presence  and  to  throw  themselves  on  their  faces  before  him.'  Respect 
towards  the  governor  was  even  carried  so  far  that  we  sometimes  find  added 
to  his  name  the  words  “Life,  health,  happiness,”  which  are  usually  appended 
only  to  the  names  of  kings  and  princes.8  It  was  also  an  unparalleled 

1 An.,  4,  6,  6.  2 Bol. , 1094,  2,  4.  8 Destruction  des  Homines,  1.  74. 

4 Prisse,  2,  9 and  4,  1.  5 With  omissions  from  R.  J.  II.,  303-304.  6 Louvre,  C.  12. 

7 Stele  of  ’Entef,  the  chief  of  the  cabinet,  of  the  39th  year  of  Usertsen  I.  (L.  A.). 

8 Under  Usertsen  I.,  L.  D.,  ii.  122.  . 


V 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  OLD  EMPIRE 


89 


sign  of  his  dignity  that  the  same  ceremonial  expressions  were  used  with  him 
as  with  the  kings  : e.g.  people  might  not  speak  to  the  chief  j ridge  but  before 
him,  they  did  not  write  to  the  governor,  but  they  laid  a letter  before  him} 

It  was  natural  that  men  in  such  a powerful  position  should  gradually 
widen  their  sphere  of  influence.  Under  the  Old  Empire  the  chief  judges 
often  usurped  the  superintendence  of  the  treasury  also  ; they  were  super- 
intendents of  the  “ houses  of  silver  ” and  of  the  granaries,2  and  even  bore 
the  proud  title  of  “ Lord  high  treasurer.”  3 They  also  officiated  as  high 
priests,4  or  in  later  times  they  were  usually  governors  of  the  chief  town. ' 
These  chief  judges  often  retained  the  rank  of  “ first  under  the  king,” 6 
which  they  had  held  before  attaining  the  above  high  position  ; in  the  same 
way  many  of  them  retained  in  after-life  all  the  dignities  of  their  former 
appointments.  Thus  the  number  of  offices  they  then  held  grew  to  be 
enormous,  e.g.  a certain  Ka’e  is  said  to  have  held  more  than  forty,'  yet  this 
multiplicity  of  appointments  did  not  hinder  them  from  exercising  the  high 
office  of  judge,  e.g.  we  know  that  they  personally  conducted  the  inquiry 
in  the  secret  state  process  against  the  members  of  the  royal  household.8 

This  hasty  sketch  of  the  constitution  of  the  Old  Empire  shows  but 
the  leading  features.  The  hierarchy  of  the  bureaucracy  was  carried  into 


the  smallest  details.  Above  the  scribes  and  the  superintendent 


of  the  scribes,  stood  a chief  and  between  the  prophets  and  their 
superintendent  were  the  sub  - superintendents  |1 1 and  the  deputy 
superintendents  ^ /'  Then  there  were  “first  men. 


/ Then  there  were  “ first  men,”  “ chiefs,” 
o 

“ great  men,”  “ associates,”  as  well  as  other  dignitaries.  There  was  wide 
scope  for  the  ambition  of  the  Egyptian  official,  who,  if  he  longed  for  them, 
could  always  obtain  high-sounding  titles  ; there  was  e.g.  the  splendid 
title  “ Chief  of  the  secrets,”  or,  as  we  should  say,  of  the  privy  council. 
There  were  privy  councillors  connected  with  all  branches  of  the  govern- 
ment. The  officers  of  the  palace  became  “ privy  councillors  of  the 
honourable  house,”  10  the  judges  became  “privy  councillors  of  the  secret 
words  of  the  court  of  justice,” I  11  and  the  chiefs  of  the  provinces  became 
“ privy  councillors  of  the  royal  commands.”  12  He  who  directed  the  royal 
buildings  was  called  “ privy  councillor  of  all  royal  works.”  13  A general 
was  the  “ privy  councillor  of  all  barbarian  countries,14  and  the  high  priest 
of  Heliopolis,  who  also  officiated  as  astrologer,  was  even  called  the 
“ privy  councillor  of  the  heavens.”  15  These  titles  were  so  meaningless 


I Abb.,  5,  6,  16.  2 L.  D.,  ii.  73  ft'.,  77  ft".  ; Mar.  Mast.,  124  flf.,  228  ff. 

3 R.  J.  H.,  65  ; L.  D.,  ii.  34  g,  41  ff.  4 Mar.  Mast.,  149.  5 R.  J.  H.,  153  ft'.  (6th  dynasty). 

6 L.  D.,  ii.  104  b ; cp.  with  ib.  103  c.  Cp.  also  L.  D. , ii.  73  with  ib.  78  a. 

7 Mar.  Mast.,  228  ff.  ; cf.  L.  D.,  ii.  45  ff. 

8 Inscription  of  Un’e,  A.  Z.,  1882,  p.  5,  11.  9 The  order  of  these  degrees  of  rank  is  uncertain. 

10  L.  D.,  ii.  41  ; R.  J.  H.,  97  ff,  and  many  other  examples. 

II  L.  D.,ii.  60 ff. , 84 ; Mar.  Mast.,  164  ff,  214  ff.,and  frequently.  12  Mar.  Mast.,  150,  i64ff.,2i4 ff. 

13  L.  D.,  ii.  23.  14  L.  D.,  ii.  100  b.  ; Mar.  Mast.,  162. 

15  Mar.  Mast.,  149.  In  the  time  of  the  New  Empire  he  wears  a dress  bespangled  with  stars. 


90 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


that  the  Egyptians  generally  contented  themselves  with  the  first  half  of 
them,  e.g.  they  would  say  “ Chief  of  the  secrets  ” in  the  same  way  as  we 
should  abbreviate  our  titles  of  privy  councillor  of  the  kingdom  or  of  the 
admiralty,  into  privy  councillor  alone. 

All  these  titles  were  not  invented  in  the  time  of  the  5th  and  6th 
dynasties,  they  are  of  older  origin,  for  we  find  in  them  indications  of 
political  conditions  which  have  no  significance  in  historical  times  ; e.g.  the 
town  of  El  Kab  (the  old  Nechebt  or  Nechent)  plays  a peculiar  part  in 
the  list  of  titles  ; under  the  Old  Empire,  as  I remarked  before,  many 
judges  bore  the  title  : “ Belonging  to  the  town  of  Nechent,”  1 and  “ Chief 
of  the  town  of  Nechebt”  is  the  usual  designation  of  the  king’s  “ chief 
reciter- priest  ” 2 who  assisted  him  at  his  worship.  Possibly  in  a still 
more  ancient  period  this  court  appointment  was  the  privilege  of  the 
nomarchs  of  El  Kab,  and  afterwards  the  title  was  retained  by  those 
princes  and  courtiers  who  recited  the  holy  writings  before  the  monarch. 

From  what  we  have  said,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  structure  of  the  old 
Egyptian  kingdom  was  somewhat  lax.  As  long  as  the  royal  power  was 
strong,  the  princes  of  the  provinces,  the  so-called  nomarchs,  were  merely 
officials  governing  under  the  guidance  of  the  court,  the  centre  of  govern- 
ment. As  soon  as  this  central  power  became  weaker  the  nomarchs 
began  to  feel  themselves  independent  rulers,  and  to  consider  their  province 
as  a small  state  belonging  to  their  house.  An  external  circumstance, 
viz.  the  places  they  chose  for  their  tombs,  indicates  whether  a race  of 
nomarchs  considered  themselves  as  officials  or  princes. 

Under  the  4th  and  5th  dynasties  the  “great  men  of  the  south,”  with- 
out exception,  were  buried  in  the  burial-place  of  the  capital,  near  their 
king,  like  the  other  officers  of  his  household.  Under  the  6th  dynasty, 
however,  the  dynastic  families  of  Middle  Egypt  preferred  to  rest  in  their 
native  soil,  and  at  Sheikh  Said,  at  Zawiet  el  Meitin,  and  at  Kasr  Saiyad, 
the  governors  of  those  nomes  hollowed  out  splendid  grotto  tombs  in  the 
rocks  of  their  homes,  as  if  the  burial-ground  of  Memphis  were  no  longer 
their  rightful  place.  In  the  succeeding  period  of  anarchy  this  custom 
took  root  amongst  the  nomarchs,  and  under  the  mighty  kings  of  the  1 2th 
dynasty  each  provincial  prince  in  Middle  Egypt  was  laid  to  rest  in  his 
own  territory. 

Amenemhe‘t  I.,  founder  of  the  12th  dynasty,  tried  to  reorganise  the 
divided  kingdom  ; but  to  accomplish  this  difficult  task  it  was  necessary 
not  only  to  reduce  the  independent  princes  to  be  obedient  vassals  of  the 
crown,  but  also  to  take  away  from  many  of  them  a part  of  their  property. 
The  old  boundaries  of  the  districts  had  long  been  disregarded,  powerful 
governors  of  towns  or  provinces  had  seized  the  territory  of  their  weaker 
neighbours,  and  in  this  way  had  constituted  small  kingdoms  for  their  own 
families.  In  such  cases  the  king  took  energetic  measures  : he  “ passed 
through  the  country  shining  like  the  sun-god  Atum,  in  order  to  punish 


interchanges  always  with 


1 A.  Z..  1882,  5. 


V 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  OLD  EMPIRE 


9i 


wrong:  and  to  reinstate  what  was  devastated.  He  divided  the  towns  the 
one  from  the  other,  and  appointed  the  boundary  of  each  town.  He  replaced 
the  boundary  stones,  and  made  them  firm  as  the  heavens.”  He  also 
determined  for  each  province  its  share  in  the  Nile  and  in  the  various 
canals  ; and  “ because  he  so  loved  the  truth  ” he  took  as  the  foundation 
of  this  division  “ what  was  written  in  the  books,  and  what  he  found  in  the 
old  writings.”  1 

Yet  though  this  king  may  have  succeeded  by  force  of  arms  in  punishing 
wrong-doing  and  re-establishing  order,  he  was  never  able  corrfpletely  to 
subject  the  nomarchs  who  had  risen  to  such  great  power.  The  tombs 
and  inscriptions  of  Beni  Hasan  show  us  plainly  that  the  nomarchs  who 
were  buried  there  considered  themselves  firstly  princes  of  their  provinces, 
and  secondly  servants  of  the  king.  Whatever  they  boast  of  having 
done,  they  did,  as  they  expressly  state,  for  their  province  ; they  warded 
off  famine  from  it,  and  at  the  head  of  its  troops  they  fought  for  the  king.2 
Their  ancestors  boasted  that  they  were  beloved  by  the  king  more  than 
all  his  other  servants  ; on  the  other  hand  they,  in  their  tomb  inscriptions, 
boast  of  being  “beloved  by  their  town.”  3 In  fact,  they  stand  in  closer 
relationship  to  their  people  than  to  their  king,  and  two-thirds  of  the 
inhabitants  of  their  province  are  named  after  the  ruling  family.4  Even  in 
the  reckoning  of  time  we  find  that  whereas  in  the  state  the  computation 
was  by  the  years  of  the  king’s  reign,  in  the  nome  of  the  Middle  Empire 
it  was  by  the  years  of  the  nomarch.5 

The  nomarchs  of  the  Middle  Empire,  like  the  vassals  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  though  faithful  to  Pharaoh  as  their  liege  lord,  were  no  longer  his 
servants.  Though  the  bureaucratic  state  of  the  Old  Empire  had  become 
a feudal  state,  yet  this  brought  about  no  great  change  in  the  country,  and 
everything  depended  upon  the  king’s  bestowing  the  provinces  on  faithful 
devoted  men.  He  could  do  this  the  more  easily  as  the  sons 6 were  not 
the  sole  heirs,  but  also  the  sons  of  the  daughters  ; 7 the  Pharaoh  therefore 
had  a sufficient  choice  of  candidates. 

We  see  how  the  nomes  passed  from  one  family  to  another  by  the 
inscriptions  (often  referred  to  in  this  work)  in  the  tomb  of  the  nomarch 
Chnemhotep  at  Beni  Hasan.  The  two  provinces  of  the  Gazelle  and  of 
the  Jackal  lay  on  the  left  bank,  some  way  below  Siut,  where,  owing  to  a 
bend,  the  Nile  flowed  close  to  the  western  mountains,  thus  leaving  a plain 
of  about  14  miles  broad  and  90  miles  long.  The  small  piece  of  arable 
land  on  the  right  bank,  with  the  high-sounding  name  of  the  Horizon  of 
Horusf  was  too  insignificant  to  form  a province,  and  was  therefore  joined 
to  the  eastern  desert.  Its  chief  town  bore  the  curious  name  of  Men’at 
Chufu,  the  Nurse  of  Chufu  ; this  town  cannot  have  been  far  from  the 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  124.  2 L.  D.,  ii.  122.  3 L.  D.,  ii.  122;  Louvre,  C.  1,  and  frequently. 

4 Cp.  the  remarks  on  this  subject  in  chap.  viii.  5 L.  D.,  ii.  122. 

K The  son  of  the  nomarch  follows  his  father  in  office  ; L.  D. , ii.  1 22,  134  c. 

7 It  is  probable  from  the  following  inscription  that  the  sons  of  the  daughters  were  sometimes 
considered  heirs-presumptive  ; other  passages  coincide  with  this.  I shall  return  to  this  obscure 
point  in  chapter  viii.  8 L.  D. , ii.  124,  1.  35. 


92 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


capital  of  the  Nome  of  the  Gazelle,  for  the  tombs  belonging  to  both  were 
in  the  same  place,  near  the  modern  Beni  Hasan,  at  a spot  devoted  to  the 
lioness-headed  goddess  Pasht.  When  Amenemhe't  I.  subdued  this  district, 
he  gave  orders  by  a “ decree  of  his  mouth  ” concerning  the  town  Men’at 
Chufu.  He  named  the  ruler  “ hereditary  prince,  prince  and  ruler  of  the 
eastern  lands  in  Men’at  Chufu,  he  fixed  the  southern  boundary,  and 
established  the  northern  as  firm  as  the  heavens.”  The  desert  formed  the 
eastern  boundary,  the  middle  of  the  Nile  the  western.  The  new  prince 
must  have  shown  himself  worthy  of  the  confidence  of  his  lord,  for  when 
long  afterwards  the  governorship  of  the  neighbouring  Nome  of  the  Gazelle 
fell  vacant,  Amenemhe't  bestowed  that  also  on  him.  He  again  appointed 
the  limits  of  his  territory  southwards  to  the  Nome  of  the  Hare,  northwards 
to  that  of  the  Jackal,  as  was  denoted  by  the  newly-erected  boundary 
stones.  All  within  these  limits,  and  on  the  other  side  between  the  middle 
of  the  stream  and  the  desert,  “ water,  fields,  groves,  and  sand,” — all  was  to 
belong  to  him.  At  the  same  time  the  new  nomarch  retained  his  own 
inheritance,  the  town  of  Men’at  Chufu  and  the  government  of  the  eastern 
lands.  At  his  death  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  Usertsen  I.,  it  appears  that 
the  king  preferred  again  to  separate  these  two  princedoms  : a son  of  the 
name  of  Nacht  received  the  family  property  of  Men’at  Chufu  ; and  Amony, 
who  was  certainly  a son  of  the  late  prince,  inherited  the  Nome  of  the  Gazelle.1 

Men’at  Chufu  afterwards  fell  into  the  hands  of  another  family.  A 
daughter  of  the  old  prince  called  Baket,  the  olive  tree , had  married  a 
prince  of  the  town,  Neher’e,  governor  of  the  town  of  Hat-Ra’-shetp-eb, 
who  may  also  have  belonged  to  the  family  of  the  nomarch  of  the  neigh- 
bouring Nome  of  the  Hare.  The  son  of  this  marriage  was  called  Chnem- 
hotep. In  the  nineteenth  year  of  Amenemhe't  II.,  the  governorship  of 
Men’at  Chufu,  which  had  become  vacant,  perhaps  owing  to  the  death  of 
Nacht,  was  given  by  the  Pharaoh  to  Chnemhotep,  whom  he  considered  the 
heir  of  the  family.  Chnemhotep,  seeing  how  advantageous  it  had  been 
to  have  an  heiress-presumptive  for  his  mother,  married  Cheti,  the  daughter 
of  the  prince  of  the  Nome  of  the  Jackal.  His  speculation  was  successful, 
for  under  Usertsen  II.  his  eldest  son  Nacht  inherited  that  nome.  The 
limits  of  the  Nome  of  the  Jackal  being  uncertain,  Nacht  besought  the  king 
to  revise  them,  or,  as  he  expressed  it  in  pretty  but  obscure  fashion,  he 
besought  the  monarch  to  allow  his  “ great  rewards  to  reach  his  water.” 
The  king  granted  his  request  ; he  “erected  a memorial  for  himself  in  the 
Nome  of  the  Jackal,  in  that  he  restored  there  what  he  found  in  ruins. 
He  divided  the  towns  from  each  other,  and  appointed  to  each  its  province, 
revising  all  after  the  ancient  books.”  He  placed  a boundary  stone  on  the 
south,  but  on  the  north  where  his  land  touched  the  Nome  of  the  Sceptre 
which  had  been  hostile,  he  placed  fifteen  boundary  stones.  On  the  east 
the  nome  was  to  extend  to  the  middle  of  the  stream,  and  on  the  west  as 
far  as  the  mountains. 

1 L.  D. , ii.  122.  Amony  remarks  positively  that  he  inherited  the  Nome  of  the  Gazelle  from  his 
“ old  father  ” ; the  date  is  given  directly  after. 


V 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  OLD  EMPIRE 


93 


THE  NOMARCH  CHNEMHOTEP 
(after  L.D.,  ii.  131). 


Nacht  was  appointed  at  the  same  time  to  be  superintendent  of  the 
south.  We  see  his  career  was  a promising  one,  and  as  one  of  his  brothers, 
the  younger  Chnemhotep,  was  greatly  in  favour  at  court,  the  prospects 
of  the  family  were  brilliant. 

Whilst  the  inscriptions  of  Beni  Hasan 
thus  teach  us  the  history  during  one  century 
of  the  inheritance  of  the  nomes  of  Middle 
Egypt,  another  inscription  at  Siut,  of  the 
same  period,  allows  us  a glimpse  into  the 
circumstances  relating  to  the  property  of  one 
of  these  nomarchs.1  They  are,  as  may  be 
imagined,  of  a most  intricate  nature,  for  the 
properties  and  revenues  which  he  inherited 
from  his  ancestors,  i.e.“  the  house  of  his  fathers,” 
were  always  separate  from  the  “house  of  the 
prince” — that  is,  from  the  estates  and  rents 
with  which  the  office  of  nomarch  was  endowed. 

The  former  was  in  reality  his  own  property  ; 
he  could  give  it  up  or  dispose  of  it  at  will  ; 
the  other  was  only  held  as  a fief  from  the 
king,  and  even  if  he  disposed  of  small  por- 
tions from  the  “ house  of  the  prince,”  these 
gifts  were  not  binding  by  law,  and  could  be 

claimed  at  any  time  afterwards  by  a niggardly  successor.  The  whole 
of  the  two  estates,  with  the  “ servants,  the  cattle,  the  gardens,  and 
other  things  ” belonging  to  them,  naturally  formed  a rich  possession, 
and  in  addition  there  were  all  kinds  of  emoluments  and  taxes.  The 
nomarch  received,  for  instance,  a leg  of  all  the  bulls  sacrificed  in 
the  necropolis,  also  his  share  of  the  bulls  sacrificed  in  the  temple,  and 
the  brotherhood  of  the  “ hour-priests  ” of  the  sanctuary  of  ’Epuat  sent 
whole  cows  and  goats  for  the  “ provision  of  the  prince.”  It  was  important 
for  the  personal  property  of  the  nomarch  that  his  family  should  have 
their  share  in  the  management  of  the  temple,  and  that  therefore  he  should 
be  a member  by  birth  of  the  priestly  college  ; as  such  he  would  draw  a 
certain  income  from  the  temple  property,  and  have  his  share  in  “ all  the 
bread,  beer,  and  meat  that  came  into  the  temple.”  This  would  belong  to 
him  by  inheritance,  and  he  could  do  as  he  pleased  with  it.  There  was 
also  a third  source  of  income.  The  nomarch  generally  took  the  first 
place  in  the  priestly  college,  and  as  chief  prophet  he  received  certain 
emoluments,  eg.  a piece  of  roast  beef  from  each  ox  slain  in  the  temple, 
and  a jug  of  beer  on  the  days  of  processions.  We  must  add  that  though 
these  properties  belonged  as  a rule  to  the  same  person,  yet  this  was 
purely  incidental,  and  it  was  only  his  hereditary  family  property,  the 
“ house  of  his  fathers,”  that  the  nomarch  might  dispose  of  quite  freely. 

Amony  ruled  for  many  years  in  the  Nome  of  the  Gazelle,  which 
1 Cp.  A.  Z.,  1882,  p.  159  ff. 


94 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Usertsen  I.  had  bestowed  upon  him  ; he  relates  to  us  how  a good  nomarch 
should  govern  in  his  office.1  He  says  : No  young  son  have  I injured,  no 
widow  have  I molested,  no  labourer  have  I arrested,  no  shepherd  have  I 
banished,  no  superintendent  of  workmen  was  there  whose  labourers  have  I 
taken  away  from  their  work.  In  my  time  there  were  no  poor,  and  none 
were  hungry  in  my  day.  When  the  years  of  famine  came  I ploughed  all 
the  fields  of  the  nome  from  the  southern  to  the  northern  boundary  ; I 
kept  the  inhabitants  alive  and  gave  them  food,  so  that  not  one  was  hungry. 
I gave  to  the  widow  even  as  to  her  who  had  a husband,  and  I never  pre- 
ferred the  great  to  the  small.”  Amony  was  therefore  “ greatly  beloved,  and 
his  popularity  ever  increased  ; he  was  a ruler  beloved  by  his  town.”  He 
was  also  in  favour  with  the  king.  All  that  the  “ royal  house  ” ordered  to  be 
done  in  his  nome  went  through  his  hands,  and  he  showed  himself  specially 
useful  in  collecting  the  revenues.  In  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  his  rule  he  was 
able  to  save  out  of  the  temple  properties  of  his  nome  3000  draught  oxen 
for  the  king.  It  was  therefore  no  wonder  that  he  was  “yearly  praised  in 
the  royal  house,”  so  much  the  more  because  he  acted  with  perfect  honesty, 
delivered  up  all  revenues,  and  put  by  nothing  for  himself.  As  nomarch, 
Amony  also  commanded  the  troops  of  the  nome,  and  three  times  he  had 
to  lead  them  out.  The  first  time  he  took  part  in  the  Nubian  campaign 
before  he  himself  was  nomarch,  “ according  to  the  wish  of  the  palace  he 
took  the  place  of  his  old  father,”  and  in  Ethiopia  he  won  to  himself 
“praise  which  reached  to  heaven.”  His  second  expedition  was  the  escort 
of  a prince  with  500  of  his  soldiers  to  the  gold  mines  in  Nubia  ; and  in 
the  third  he  conducted  the  governor  of  the  chief  town  and  600  warriors  to 
the  quarries  of  Hamamat. 

In  the  same  way  as  the  nome  was  a state  in  miniature,  its  government 
was  a diminutive  copy  of  the  government  of  the  state."  The  nome  also  had 
its  treasury,  and  the  treasurer,  who  was  an  important  personage,  had  the 
oversight  of  all  the  artisans,  the  cabinetmakers,  carpenters,  potters,  and 
smiths,  who  worked  for  the  nomarch.  He  even  built  the  tomb  for  his 
master,  and  he  was  so  highly  esteemed  by  the  nomarch  that  he  was 
allowed  to  travel  in  the  boats  with  the  princes.  There  were  also  the 
superintendent  of  the  soldiers,  who  commanded  the  troops  of  the  nome, 
the  superintendent  of  the  granaries,  the  superintendent  of  the  oxen,  the 
superintendent  of  the  desert,  a number  of  superintendents  of  the  house, 
and  a host  of  other  scribes  and  officials. 

The  accompanying  illustration  shows  us  part  of  the  government  offices 
of  Chnemhotep  ; they  are  in  a court  which  appears  to  be  surrounded  by 
a wall.  The  building  on  the  left  is  the  treasury,  in  which  we  see  the 
weighing  of  the  money  that  has  just  been  received.  The  treasurer  Bak’te 
squats  on  his  divan  inspecting  the  work,  whilst,  outside,  his  scribe,  Neter- 
nacht,  makes  a record  of  the  proceeding.  Close  by  is  the  building  for  the 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  122. 

2 All  that  follows  on  this  subject  is  according  to  the  pictures  in  the  tomb  of  Chnemhotep,  L.  D. , 
ii.  126  ff.  We  see  here  that  the  treasurer  built  the  tomb  of  Chnemhotep,  L.  D.,  ii.  125,  1.  222. 


V 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  OLD  EMPIRE 


95 


“ superintendence  of  the  property  of  the  revenues,” 
and  here  the  scribes  are  especially  busy.  The 
harvest  is  just  over  and  the  corn  is  being  brought 
into  the  granaries  ; each  sack  is  filled  in  the  sight 
of  the  overseer  and  noted  down,  and  when  the 
sacks  are  carried  up  the  steps  to  the  roof  of  the 
granary,  the  scribe  Nuteruhotep  receives  them 
there,  and  writes  down  the  number  emptied 
through  the  opening  above.  In  this  way  any 
peculation  on  the  part  of  the  workmen  is  avoided, 
and  the  officials  check  each  other.  The  nom- 
arch is  thus  surrounded  by  a court  en  miniature , 


and  like  the  king  he  has  his  “ speaker,” 


who  brings  him  reports  on  all  subjects. 

During  the  time  of  the  Middle  Empire, 
owing  to  the  independent  position  of  the  nom- 
arch, the  constitution  of  the  state  had  become 
looser,  but  on  the  other  hand  one  department  of 
the  government,  a department  centralised  even 
under  the  Old  Empire,  viz.  the  superintendence 
of  the  royal  treasury  and  property,  remained 
unchanged.  In  fact  most  of  the  high  officials 
interred  in  the  burial-ground  of  Abydos  belong 
to  this  department,  which  at  this  time  was  held 
in  even  greater  honour  than  ever.  It  formed 
apparently  the  central  point  of  the  state.  We 
find  a whole  list  of  “ houses  ” with  their  super- 


intendents 


H 


they  are  the  bureaus,  the 


writing  and  account  rooms,  of  the  different 
government  departments,  and  it  was  the  duty 
of  their  overseers  “ to  reckon  up  the  works,  to 
write  them  down  by  the  thousand,  and  to  add 
them  together  by  the  million.”  1 The  old  office 
of  “ superintendent  of  granaries  ” is  now  called 
“ the  house  of  the  counting  of  the  corn,”  and  the 
director  takes  a high  position.2  The  superin- 
tendence of  the  oxen,  or  the  “ house  of  the 
reckoning  of  the  oxen,”  is  placed  under  the 
“ superintendent  of  the  oxen  of  the  whole 
country,”  who  also  bears  the  title  of  “ superin- 


1 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab,  661. 

stele  of  ’Enher-nacht,  from  the  Anastasi 

QQQ  * 

collection  (L.  A.);  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  388. 


GOVERNMENT  BUILDING  OF  THE  NOME  OF  THE  GAZELLE  (after  L. 


96 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


tendent  of  the  horns,  claws,  and  feathers.”  1 The  “ superintendence  of  the 
storehouses  ” 2 is  often  combined  with  the  latter,  and  finally  there  is 
also  the  finance  department,  the  house  of  silver  of  the  Old  Empire,3 
called  also  the  “ great  house.” 4 This  last  department  appears  to  have 
been  the  most  important  of  all,  and  to  have  even  included  the  others, 
eg.  we  sometimes  find  the  superintendence  of  the  storehouse  and  of  the 
oxen  subordinate  to  the  treasury  department.5 

At  the  head  of  the  treasury  department  was  the  high  official  whose 

and  who  called  himself  with  bold  exaggera- 
tion, the  “ governor  of  all  that  exists,  or  that  does  not  exist.” 6 At  the 
king’s  command  he  gave  out  of  his  treasury,  sacrifices  for  the  gods  and 
sacrifices  for  the  deceased,7  and  it  was  he  who  “ fed  the  people,”  8 i.e.  he 
gave  to  the  state  officials  their  salaries  in  bread  and  meat.  Even  under 
the  Old  Empire  the  position  of  the  lord  high  treasurer  was  a very  high 
one,  and  in  later  times  his  influence  was,  if  possible,  still  greater  ; he  is 
entitled  eg.  “ the  greatest  of  the  great,  the  chief  of  the  courtiers,  the  prince 
of  mankind  ;9  he  gives  counsel  to  the  king,  all  fear  him,  and  the  whole 
country  renders  account  to  him.”  10  One  is  mentioned  as  the  “captain  of 
the  whole  country,  the  chief  of  the  north  country,”11  and  another  the  “ chief 
commander  of  the  army.”  12  Yet,  notwithstanding  their  high  rank,  they 
performed  the  duties  of  their  office  in  person  ; we  meet  with  one  in  the 
quarries  of  Sinai,13  another  journeying  to  Arabia,14  and  another  on  his 
way  to  the  Nubian  gold  mines.10  It  was  incumbent  on  them  personally 
to  endow  one  of  the  great  temples  at  home  with  the  precious  things  they 
brought  from  foreign  countries.10 

The  second  official  of  the  treasury,  the  “ treasurer  of  the  god,”  whose 
chief  business  consisted  in  the  superintendence  of  the  transport  of 
precious  things,  is  to  be  met  with  in  the  mines,1'  in  Nubia, 18  or  on  the  way 
to  Arabia.19  He  is  still  the  “ conductor  of  the  ships,”  and  the  “ director 


rank  is  thus  denoted 


■"IT/4 


Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  590,  601,  679.  Stele  of  Kems’e  in  the  Kestner 
Collection,  and  of  Ra‘-shetp-’eb-‘anch  at  Leyden  (L.  A. ) ; L.  D.,  ii.  150  a. 

2 I ~|  stele  of  Ra‘-sbetp-’eb-‘anch  at  Leyden  (L.  A.)  ; Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  691,  384,  582. 

3 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  594. 

4 r 1 ‘’552=3.  Mar-  Cat.  d’Ab.,  654,  762;  Louvre,  C.  2.  Stele  of  Ra‘-cheper-ka  at  Leyden 

(L.  A.)  There  were  six  great  houses,  L.  D. , ii.  150  a,  as  there  were  six  courts  of  law  Q ; this 

denotes  some  division  of  the  kingdom,  or  of  Upper  Egypt,  into  six  parts. 

5 L.  D.,  ii.  150  a ; Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  647  ; A.  Z. , 1882,  203. 

6 L.  D.,  ii.  150  a. 

7 Stele  of  Ra‘-shetp-’eb-‘anch  at  Leyden  (L.  A.),  Louvre,  C.  2. 

8 R.  J.  H. , 303-304.  9 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  647. 

10  L.  D.,  ii.  150  a.  11  Stele  of  Ra‘-cheper-ka  at  Leyden  (L.  A.). 

12  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  647.  13  L.  D.,  ii.  137  a,  140  n. 

14  L.  D.,  ii.  150  a;  A.  Z.,  1882,  203.  15  L.  D.,  ii.  144  d. 

16  L.  D.,  ii.  135  h,  after  comparison  with  the  original. 

17  L.  D. , ii.  137  a,  c,  g,  144  q.  18  L.  D.,  ii.  144  c. 


19  X.  Z.,  1882,  204. 


V 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  OLD  EMPIRE 


97 


of  the  works,”  but  his  title  has  been  changed  to  correspond  with  the  spirit 
of  these  times,  in  which  the  hierarchy  of  the  bureaucracy  was  more 
emphasised  than  under  the  Old  Empire  ; he  is  therefore  called  in  the  first 
place  the  “ cabinet  minister  of  the  hall  of  the  treasurer,”  1 or  the  “ cabinet 


time  he  retains  his  old  title,  but  only  as  a title,  not  as  designating  his 
office.  The  “ cabinet  minister  ” also  held  a high  place  at  court  ; one 
boasts  that  “ he  had  caused  truth  to  ascend  to  his  master,  and  had  shown 
him  the  needs  of  the  two  countries,”  3 and  another  relates  that  he  had 
“ caused  the  courtiers  to  ascend  to  the  king.”  4 

The  titles  of  the  lower  treasury  officials  were  also  changed,  and 

instead  of  using  their  old  designation  of  treasurer , they  pre- 


of  the  treasurer.”  5 

We  have  already  seen  that  many  of  the  chief  treasurers  claim  by  their 
titles  to  be  the  highest  official  in  the  state.  As  such  however  we  must 
generally  regard  the  “governor  and  chief  judge”;  he  may  of  course  at 
the  same  time  be  the  “chief  treasurer.”6  Frequently  under  the  Middle 
Empire  this  “ chief  of  chiefs,  director  of  governors,  and  governor  of  coun- 
sellors, the  governor  of  Horus  at  his  appearing,”  receives  the  government 
of  the  capital  town  ; ' in  later  times  this  becomes  the  rule. 

The  above  may  suffice  as  a brief  sketch  of  official  life  under  the 
Middle  Empire.  A characteristic  feature  of  this  time  is  that,  in  addition 
to  the  high  officials  of  the  Old  Empire,  the  subordinate  ones  come  into 
greater  prominence  than  before.  Their  number  is  legion,  e.g.  the  treasury 
department  possesses,  in  addition  to  the  above-mentioned  personages,  the 
“ deputy  governor  of  the  treasurers  ; ” 8 the  “ clerk  to  this  governor,”  9 the 
“ clerk  of  the  house  of  silver,”  10  the  “ chief  clerk  of  the  treasury,”  11  the 
“ custodian  of  the  house  of  silver,”  12  the  “ superintendent  of  the  officials  of 
the  house  of  silver,”  13  etc.  Evidently  these  lower  officials  have  become 
personages  of  distinction  and  importance,  and  even  if  unable  to  make  a 
show  of  long  titles,  or  call  themselves  the  “ privy  councillors  ” or  “ friends  ” 
of  the  king,  yet,  like  the  members  of  the  old  aristocracy,  they  kept 
servants  and  slaves,14  and  erected  for  themselves  splendid  tombs  at  Abydos. 
They  have  formed  a middle  class  in  the  nation. 


minister  (or  “ chief  cabinet  minister  ”)  of  the  house  of  silver,”  2 at  the  same 


ferred  the  more  fashionable  one  of  “assistant  ^ to  the  superintendent 

a 


Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  764.588.  Stele  of 


Sa-setet  under  Amenemhe't  III.  (L.A.). 

2 L.  D.,  ii.  137  a,  c,  g,  etc.  3 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  764.  4 X.  Z.,  1882,  204. 

5 L.  D.,  ii.  137  f.  g. ; L.  D.,  ii.  135  h.,  after  comparison  with  the  original. 

11  R-  J-  H.,  303/4.  7 L.  D.,  ii.  149  c.  Cover  of  the  sarcophagus  of  a Usertsen  (L.  A.). 

* L.  D.,  ii.  137  a.  9 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  635,  627.  10  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  635. 

ATnr  Ont  rl’Al,  fi-jT 


Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  627. 


13  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  677. 


Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  677.  Stele  of  Sa-setet  (L.  A.). 


14  E.g.  a stonemason.  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  724. 


H 


98 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


How  this  came  to  pass  is  quite  evident  ; it  was  the  result  of  a process 
which  always  plays  a part  in  the  life-history  of  all  states.  The  passions 
of  mankind  which  influence  the  government  of  a kingdom  are  the  same  in 
all  places  and  at  all  times,  and  as  a rule  therefore  the  development  of  a 
state  follows  the  same  course.  The  high  official  is  always  of  opinion  that 
in  the  interest  of  the  state  he  ought  to  undertake  the  duties  of  his  col- 
league as  well  as  his  own,  so  as  to  render  the  system  of  government  more 
uniform  and  simple.  If  one  man  succeeds  in  holding  two  offices,  each  of 
his  successors  will  endeavour  to  do  the  same,  and  thus  the  union  of  the 
two  dignities  becomes  the  rule.  In  the  course  of  centuries,  through  the 
ambition  of  the  officials,  the  government  becomes  more  and  more  cen- 
tralised, the  high  dignitaries  of  the  state  continually  add  other  offices  to 
those  they  already  hold,  until  we  find  at  last  an  abnormal  condition,  like 
that  existing  under  the  ancient  Empire,  when  a great  number  of  offices 
were  vested  in  one  person. 

The  result  of  this  unwholesome  concentration  of  all  the  authority  in 
few  hands  follows  as  a matter  of  course.  The  most  energetic  man  who 
is  in  charge  of  thirty  departments  cannot  really  perform  the  smallest  part 
of  the  duties  of  each.  No  one  at  the  same  time  can  judge,  govern  the 
treasury,  command  the  troops,  direct  the  buildings,  wait  on  the  king  in 
the  palace,  sacrifice  to  Horus  or  to  the  late  Pharaoh,  superintend  the 
temple,  and  I know  not  what  else  besides.  The  happy  possessor  of  all 
these  honours  soon  contents  himself  with  the  direction  of  the  depart- 
ments, leaving  the  work  of  each  to  his  subordinates,  and  as  some  duties 
are  of  more  importance  than  others,  he  confines  his  energies  to  the  former, 
leaving  the  latter  entirely  to  the  inferior  officials  ; but  though  he  gives  up 
the  work,  he  still  nominally  holds  the  office  for  the  sake  of  the  much- 
coveted  title.  This  state  of  things  rights  itself  in  time,  for  instead  of 
the  power,  which  the  great  men  thought  to  have  gained,  they  find  them- 
selves merely  in  the  possession  of  a number  of  high-sounding  titles. 

Egypt  underwent  the  above  process  in  very  early  times.  Under  the 
Old  Empire  many  titles  lay  under  the  suspicion  of  being  only  empty 
titles,  and  conscious  of  this  fact  their  owners  added  to  them  the  word  real. 
Thus  a certain  Tepem'anch  of  the  time  of  the  5th  dynasty  1 calls  himself 
“ the  real  nearest  friend  of  the  king, 
the  real  director  of  commissions, 
the  real  judge  and  chief  of  the  district, 
the  real  judge  and  chief  scribe, 
the  real  judge  and  scribe.” 

Doubtless  under  the  Middle  Empire  many  of  the  terms  of  distinction 
borne  by  the  nomarchs  in  Middle  Egypt  were  mere  titles  ; indeed 
the  fact  that  those  who  bear  them  protest  that  they  are  really  chief 
prophets,2  or  really  royal  relatives,  indicates  that  all  their  pretended 
dignities  are  not  equally  trustworthy.  The  nomarchs  of  Siut,  Beni  Hasan, 
and  Bersheh  bear  the  title  of  “ lord  high  treasurer,”  although  we  never 
1 Mar.  Mast.,  195.  2 Mar.  mon.  div.,  168  c.  =R.  J.  H.,  287. 


V 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  OLD  EMPIRE 


99 


meet  one  of  them  in  Sinai  or  in  Hamamat.  In  this  case  it  was  evidently 
a title  that  they  retained  from  old  times  ; perhaps  one  or  other  of  their 
ancestors  really  fulfilled  the  duties  of  that  office,  and  Pharaoh  conferred 
the  honour  of  the  title  on  his  posterity. 

Before  we  further  pursue  the  subject  of  the  development  of  the  state, 
we  must  take  a glance  at  those  social  conditions  on  which  the  constitution 
of  the  state  rested  in  old  times. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  I showed  that  there  existed  an  aristo- 


and  of  the  nomes  to  which  they  belonged.  They  sat  in  the  seats  of  their 


PEASANT  WOMEN  BRINGING  TRIBUTE  FROM  THE  VILLAGES  OF  “ LAKE,  CAKES,  WINE 
MOUNTAINS,  FUNERAL  SACRIFICES,”  etc. 

From  the  grave  of  T'y  (after  Badeker,  Lower  Egypt,  p.  41 1). 

“ fathers,  the  nobility  of  ancient  days,”  1 and  they  present  the  best  example 
of  a hereditary  nobility.  Their  riches  consisted  chiefly  in  landed  property, 
and  in  their  tombs  we  see  long  processions  of  peasant  men  and  women 
representing  the  various  villages  belonging  to  the  deceased.  The  names  of 
the  places  are  inscribed  by  the  side  and  give  us  many  interesting  particulars. 
Most 2 are  names  derived  from  their  chief  products  : — “ fish,  cake,  syca- 
more, wine,  lotus,  provision  of  bread,  provision  of  beer,  fish-catching,”  etc.r 
and  as  these  designations  might  repeat  themselves,  the  name  of  the  master 
is  added  : — “ the  fish-catching  of  Pehen,”  “ the  lotus  of  Pehen,”  “ the  lake  of 
Enchefttka,”  “ the  lake  of  Ra'kapu,”  etc.  Some  proprietors  prefer  religious 
names,  thus  S‘abu,  high  priest  of  Ptah,  named  his  villages  : — “ Ptah  gives 
life,”  “ Ptah  gives  everlasting  life,”  “ Ptah  acts  rightly,”  “ Ptah  causes  to 
grow,”3  etc.  Others  again  loyally  choose  names  of  kings  : eg.  a Ptahhotep 
called  his  villages  : “ S‘ahure‘  gives  beautiful  orders,”  “ ’Ess’e,  who  loves  the 
truth,”  “ Horus  wills  that  Userkaf  should  live,”  “ Mut  wills  that  Kaka’e 
should  live,”  “ Har’ekau  has  splendid  diadems,”  “ Har’ekau  gives  splendid 
rewards.”  4 We  conjecture  that  these  royal  names,  which  are  often  those 
of  past  ages,  may  have  belonged  to  those  Pharaohs  who  bestowed  the 


hands  lay  the  government  of  the  towns 


2 E.g.  Mar.  Mast.,  1S5,  186,  276,  305,  etc. 
4 R.  J.  H.,  84.  89. 


1 Leyden,  v.  4 (twice). 

3 R-J.  H.,95- 


IOO 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


property  on  the  family.  The  above-mentioned  S'abu,  who  lived  under 
Tet’e,  would  in  this  case  have  received  several  villages  from  Un’es  and 
'Ess'e  the  preceding  kings  ; but  one  of  his  estates,  the  honourable , had 
probably  been  given  to  his  ancestors  by  the  ancient  king  Cha'fre*. 
S'abu’s  villages  were  not  all  situated  close  to  Memphis,  where  he  held  his 
office,  but  were  scattered  throughout  the  Delta. 

Numerous  functionaries  were  of  course  necessary  to  direct  large  pro- 
perties ; these  are  frequently  represented  ; there  are  “ scribes,”  “ directors 
of  scribes,”  “ stewards,”  “ directors  of  affairs,”  “ scribes  of  the  granaries,”  etc. 
Very  often  the  highest  appointments  in  the  superintendence  of  property 
are  given  to  the  sons  of  the  great  lord.1  There  was  also  always  a special 
court  of  justice  belonging  to  the  estate,  to  supervise  the  lists  of  cattle,2 
and  before  this  court  the  mayor  of  the  village  would  be  brought 3 when 
behindhand  with  the  rents  of  his  peasants.  Besides  the  labourers  there  were 
numerous  workmen  and  shepherds  belonging  to  the  property ; these  went  out 


THE  MAYOR  OF  THE  VILLAGE  BROUGHT  TO  RENDER  ACCOUNT. 
(Representation  in  the  grave  of  T'y.  After  Badeker,  Lower  Egypt,  p.  409.) 


to  war  with  their  lord,  and  formed  various  bodies  of  troops,  each  bearing 
their  own  standard.4  Under  the  Middle  Empire  the  conditions  of  large 
landed  proprietors  appear  to  have  exactly  resembled  those  above  described. 

The  study  of  the  representations  in  the  tombs  of  the  Old  Empire 
might  lead  us  to  the  conclusion  that  the  population  of  Egypt  during  that 
period  consisted  only  of  the  people  represented  there,  viz.  the  great  men 
of  the  kingdom  with  their  large  domains,  their  high  appointments,  and 
priestly  offices  ; their  subordinates,  the  lower  officials  of  all  kinds  ; and 
lastly,  the  crowd  of  serfs,  labourers,  and  peasants.  No  others  are  repre- 
sented in  the  tombs,  we  never  have  the  least  glimpse  of  free  peasants, 
artisans,  or  shopmen.  Such  peculiar  social  conditions  might  be  the  result 
of  special  political  events,  but  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  so  high  a 
civilisation  could  be  developed  in  such  an  unnatural  and  one-sided  com- 
munity. Serfs  could  scarcely  have  brought  Egyptian  art  and  handicrafts  to 
that  perfection  which  we  see  represented  in  the  tombs  of  the  Old  Empire. 

We  have  in  fact  no  convincing  proofs  that  the  Egypt  of  the  earliest 
ages  consisted  of  such  a nation  of  slaves.  We  must  not  forget  that  we 
owe  all  our  knowledge  to  tombs  erected  by  members  of  the  highest  class 
1 L.  D.,  ii.  9. 11.  2 L.  D.,  ii.  61  b.  3 Badeker,  Lower  Egypt,  p.  409.  4 L.  D.,  ii.  9. 


V 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  OLD  EMPIRE 


IOI 


of  society.  It  was  natural  that  these  princes  and  royal  relatives  should 
wish  to  hand  down  to  posterity  the  names  of  their  faithful  servants,  and 
that  they  should  cause  to  be  represented  the  peasants,  shepherds,  and 
artisans  who  worked  on  their  property.  On  the  other  hand,  they  had  no 
interest  in  immortalising  in  their  tombs  those  citizens  of  inferior  rank  who 
had  no  connection  with  them,  either  as  servants  or  otherwise  ; and  if  we 
wonder  why  the  latter  did  not  build  tombs  for  themselves,  we  must  not 
overlook  the  fact  that  probably  the  custom  of  building  indestructible  tombs 
began  only  in  the  time  of  the  Old  Empire.  The  highest  of  the  land 
alone  allowed  themselves  this  luxury,  and  (as  far  as  we  can  judge  from 
the  excavations  of  Lepsius  and  Mariette)  there  were  scarcely  a thousand 
tombs  built  in  the  burial-ground  of  Memphis  during  the  three  hundred 
years  of  the  4th  and  5th  dynasties.  It  was  only  under  the  Middle 
Empire  that  tomb-building  began  to  be  common  in  a wider  circle,  and 
in  the  necropolis  of  Abydos  we  find  countless  cenotaphs,  commemorating 
those  who  belonged  certainly  to  the  lower  rank  of  officials.  At  the 
same  time  with  these  “ scribes  of  the  harem  ” or  “ cf  the  nomes,”  1 we 
meet  with  many  other  persons  on  the  field  of  Abydos,  bearing  no  title  or 
rank;  these  may  be  wealthy  free  citizens,  possessors  of  smaller  properties, 
rich  merchants,  or  tradesmen.  These  tombs  are  not  of  less  importance 
than  those  of  the  royal  officials  ; the  deceased  had  their  “ master  of  the 
household,”  and  their  male  and  female  servants,'2  and  often  some  member 
of  the  family  had  entered  the  official  career."  They  are  therefore  of  the 
same  social  rank  as  the  servants  of  the  state. 

A poem  of  very  ancient  date  tells  us  in  fact  of  tradesmen  who  were 
neither  the  serfs  of  high  lords,  nor  officials  of  the  state,  but  who  worked 
for  their  own  living.  One  is  said  to  travel  through  the  Delta  “ in  order  to 
earn  wages,”  another,  a barber,  goes  from  street  to  street  to  pick  up  news, 
a third,  a maker  of  weapons,  buys  a donkey  and  sets  forth  for  foreign 
parts  to  sell  his  wares.4  In  the  same  poem  we  read  that  the  weaver  must 
always  sit  at  home  at  his  work,  and  if  he  wishes  to  get  a little  fresh  air, 
he  must  bribe  the  porter  ; we  see  therefore  that  the  poet  considers  him 
to  be  a bondservant.5 

1 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  6S6,  561.  2 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  61 1,  704,  705. 

3 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  709,  715,  729. 

4 Sail.,  2,  5,  5 ff.  ; Sail.,  2,  5,  3 ff.  ; Sail.,  2,  7,  4 ff.  =An.,  7,  2,  6 ff. 

5 Sail.,  2,  7,  2 ff.  =An.,  7,  2,  3 ff. 


SHEPHERDS  COOKING,  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  OLD  EMPIRE  (after  Perrot,  p.  36). 


EGYPTIAN  DECORATION  FOR  A CEILING. 


CHAPTER  VI 

POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  IN  EGYPT  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE 

IN  spite  of  all  changes  and  innovations,  the  Middle  Empire  rested  on 
the  same  political  basis  as  the  Old  Empire  ; on  the  other  hand,  under 
the  New  Empire,  the  constitution  of  the  state  must  be  regarded  as  a new 
creation,  differing  as  much  from  that  of  the  old  period  as  the  military 
government  of  the  first  Napoleon  differed  from  the  feudal  kingdom 
of  St.  Louis.  Many  of  the  old  courts  of  jurisdiction  and  many  titles 
still  existed  in  this  later  period,  but  the  fundamental  principles  of  the 
government  were  so  much  changed  that  these  resemblances  could  only 
be  external. 

In  the  first  place,  under  the  New  Empire  the  provincial  governments 
on  which  the  old  state  rested  have  entirely  disappeared  ; there  are  no 
longer  any  nomarchs  ; the  old  aristocracy  has  made  way  for  royal  officials, 
and  the  landed  property  has  passed  out  of  the  hands  of  the  old 
families  into  the  possession  of  the  crown  and  of  the  great  temples. 
This  is  doubtless  the  effect  of  the  rule  of  the  Hyksos  and  of  their  wars. 

The  Theban  dynasties  maintained  the  struggle  against  these  foreign 
rulers  for  generations  ; they  did  not  fight  for  the  freedom  of  the  small 
princedoms,  but  for  their  own  interest.  They  conquered  the  country  and 
drove  out  the  barbarians,  scarcely  from  those  patriotic  impulses  to  which 
we  of  the  modern  world  pretend.  They  looked  upon  their  conquest  as 
their  own  hardly-won  possession,  and  simply  took  the  place  of  the  foreign 
rulers.  We  can  well  understand  that  King  Ta‘a  would  not  only  receive  no 
support  from  the  petty  princes,  but  that  they  would  resist  him,  preferring 
to  remain  vassals  of  the  foreign  ruler  in  Hatu‘ar  rather  than  submit 
to  one  of  their  equals.  In  fact  we  find  that  after  the  war  of  liberation 
rebellions  still  arose,  which  A'hmose  had  to  crush  ; we  read  especially 
of  a certain  Tet’e-‘an,  who  “ collected  the  evildoers  ” and  marched  against 


chap,  vi  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  NE IV  EMPIRE 


103 


him,  and  whom  A'hmose  conquered  in  a pitched  battle.1  On  the  other 
hand,  A'hmose  was  obliged  to  reward  with  high  titles  those  princes  who 
had  supported  him,  and  therefore  in  the  beginning  of  the  1 8th  dynasty 
we  meet  with  distinguished  private  men  bearing  the  title  of  the  “ first 
son  of  the  king  ” ; 2 the  renunciation  of  their  claims  being  evidently 
bought  from  them  by  the  bestowal  of  high  rank.  The  family  of 

the  “ first  royal  son  ” of  El  Kab  certainly  kept  this  title  during  four 
generations,  and  Amenhotep,  the  son  of  Hapu,  the  celebrated  wise  man 
of  the  court  of  Amenhotep  III.,  belonged  to  it."  Whatever  the  details 
may  have  been,  we  may  accept  as  a general  fact  that  Tab  and  A'hmose 
exterminated  the  old  nobility  very  much  as  the  Mamluks  were  extermi- 
nated by  Mehemed  Ali,  and  as  the  latter  obtained  the  greater  part  of  all 
the  property  in  the  kingdom  by  the  confiscation  of  the  estates  of  the 
Mamluks,  so  the  former  absorbed  in  like  manner  the  property  of  the 
small  princedoms.4  Thus  arose  those  abnormal  agrarian  conditions  found 
in  later  Egypt  by  which  all  property,  with  the  exception  of  the  priest’s 
fields,  belonged  to  Pharaoh,  and  was  rented  from  the  crown  by  a payment 
of  20  per  cent.  In  Gen.  xlvii.  these  conditions  are  declared  to  be  due 
to  the  clever  policy  of  Joseph. 

The  New  Empire  was  founded  by  the 
power  of  arms,  and  established  by  wars  in 
the  north  and  south  ; no  wonder  therefore 
that  it  became  a military  state,  and  that  the 
soldiery  rose  to  greater  power  than  ever 
before.  The  army  had  as  yet  played  but 
an  insignificant  part;  even  under  the  Middle 
Empire  the  Nubian  wars  were  carried  on  by 
the  militia  of  the  individual  nomes  ; one 
element  of  a standing  army  alone  was  pre- 
sent, viz.  the  “ followers  of  the  king  ” 

, a body-guard,  which  we  meet  with  so 

often  and  so  exclusively  in  Nubia  that  we 
conjecture  that  it  was  employed  as  the 

1 J . SOLDIER  OF  THE  MIDDLE  EMPIRE 

gamson  of  the  subjected  country.  Every-  (Picture  at  Siut.  After  Wiik. , i.  202.) 
thing  seems  changed  under  the  New  Empire: 

we  continually  meet  with  the  infantry,  the  chariot-force  with  their  officers, 
and  the  “ royal  scribes  ” ; on  the  borders  and  in  the  conquered  country 
we  find  mercenaries  with  their  chiefs,  while  in  the  interior  the  foreign 
troops  of  the  Mad'oi  act  as  military  and  police.  For  the  most  part  these 
warlike  services  are  rendered  to  Pharaoh  by  barbarians,  and  under 
Ramses  II.  we  meet  with  Libyans  and  Shardana  in  Egyptian  pay. 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  12  d.,  22.  - L.  D.,  iii.  9,  43  a.  b.  3 I..  D.,  iii.  42  a.  b. 

4 e see  that  after  a civil  war  A'hmose  himself  bestowed  lands  on  his  favourites  (L.  D.,  iii.  12  d., 

21 ).  This  fact  supports  the  above  theory,  for  he  probably  granted  them  a share  in  the  booty. 

L.  D.,  ii.  136  e.  g.,  144  b.  h.  i.  k.,  138  a.  g. 


104 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


It  follows  that  an  army  of  mercenaries,  such  as  we  have  described, 
would  soon  become  a powerful  factor  in  the  state,  and  would  interfere 
in  many  ways  in  the  government.  That  this  was  the  case  we  can  often 
gather  from  the  correspondence  of  the  scribes  which  is  still  extant.  The 
“ chief  of  the  soldiers  ” orders  exactly  how  and  where 
a certain  canal  is  to  be  dug,1  and  his  deputy  not  only 
orders  blocks  of  stone  to  be  transported,  but  also 
undertakes  the  transport  of  a statue.'2  The  king’s 
charioteer,  holding  a high  position  in  the  army, 
watches  over  the  transport  of  monuments,3  and  the 
chief  of  the  militia  does  the  same.4  Thus  we  see 
that  officers  of  the  army  have  stepped  into  the 
places  of  the  former  “ high  treasurer,”  and  of  the 
“ treasurer  of  the  god.”  A few  centuries  later  the 
mercenaries  thrust  the  Pharaoh  from  his  throne,  and 
set  up  their  great  chief  in  his  place. 

The  Egyptian  kingdom  however  was  fated  first 
to  succumb  to  another  power  ; threatening  signs  of 
this  danger  are  seen  under  the  New  Empire.  I 

speak  of  the  priesthood,  whose  place  in  the  kingdom  became  more  and 

more  abnormal  after  the  I 8th  dynasty.  Signs  of  the  rise  of  their  power 
are  plainly  to  be  traced  on  the  burial -field  of  Abydos,  where  in  like 
manner  we  saw  the  rise  of  the  lower  official  class  under  the  Middle 
Empire  : from  the  time  of  the  1 8th  dynasty  the  tombs  of  priests  and 
temple  officials  are  to  be  found  on  all  sides. 

There  was  no  lack  of  priests  in  the  older  time,  but,  with  the  exception 
of  the  high  priests  of  the  great  gods,  most  of  the  priesthood  held  inferior 
positions  bestowed  upon  them  by  the  nomarchs  and  by  the  high  officials. 
We  hear  but  little  also  of  the  estates  or  of  the  riches  of  the  temples  ; at 

most  we  only  meet  with  the  “treasurer”  of  a sanctuary.5  Under  the 

Middle  Empire  the  conditions  are  somewhat  different  : we  find  a “ scribe 
of  the  sacrifices,”6  and  a “superintendent  of  the  temple  property,”1  a “lord 
treasurer  of  the  temple,”  s and  even  a “ scribe  of  the  corn  accounts  and 
superintendent  of  the  granaries  of  the  gods  of  Thinis.” 9 The  above 
however  were  of  little  importance  compared  to  the  numberless  “super- 
intendents of  the  cabinet,”  and  the  “ keepers  of  the  house,”  belonging  to 
the  treasury.  Under  the  New  Empire  all  is  changed  ; the  fourth  part  of 
all  the  tombs  at  Abydos  belong  to  priests  or  to  temple  officials.  The 
individual  divinities  have  special  superintendents  for  their  property,10  for 
their  fields,11  for  their  cattle,12  for  their  granaries,13  and  for  their  store- 
houses,14 they  have  directors  for  their  buildings,15  as  well  as  their  own 

1 An.,  5,  21,  8 ff.  2 Leyden,  348,  7.  3 Leyden,  349.  4 Leyden,  348,  6,  7. 

5 Mar.  Mast.,  96,  97.  6 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  552.  7 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  566. 

8 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  551.  9 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  694. 

10  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1202,  1153  ( = 1219),  1049.  Cp.  especially  as  to  the  working  of  this 
department,  Leyden,  348.  11  lb. , 1085.  13  lb. , 1144,  1080. 

13  Inscription  in  the  hier.  char.,  29.  14  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  430.  15  lb.,  424,  1163. 


SOLDIER  OF  THE  NEW 

empire  (after  L.  D. , 
iii.  121  b.). 


VI 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE 


105 


painters  and  goldsmiths,1  their  servants  and  slaves,  and  even  the  chief 
barber2  has  his  place  in  all  the  great  sanctuaries.  These  temple  officials 
are  for  the  most  part  men  of  distinction  and  note.  Thus  we  see  that  the 
priesthood  under  the  New  Empire  forms  one  of  the  most  important 
elements  of  the  kingdom.  This  is  not  surprising,  for  just  at  that  period 
religion  undermined  and  stifled  the  energies  of  the  nation  ; kings  exhausted 
their  resources  in  building  gigantic  temples,  or  in  giving  the  booty  of 
towns  to  the  god  Amon,  and  barren  religious  representations  take  the 
place  of  the  old  bright  pictures  of  daily  life.  It  was  natural  that  the 
priesthood  should  thrive  on  the  religious  fanaticism  of  a decaying  nation. 
When  we  read  in  the  Harris  papyrus  of  the  immense  treasures  that  one 
king  alone  bestowed  on  his  “ fathers  the  gods,”  we  are  not  surprised  that 
the  servants  of  these  gods  should  soon  rival  the  kings  in  power,  and 
indeed  at  last  entirely  thrust  them  aside. 

The  captains  of  the  mercenaries  on  one  hand,  powerful  priests  on  the 
other,  take  the  place  under  the  New  Empire  of  the  old  aristocracy. 
It  is  not  purely  accidental  that  we  find  joining  forces  with  the  above 
a third  determining  factor,  one  that  only  arises  when  a kingdom  is  in  an 
unhealthy  state,  viz.  the  slaves  belonging  to  the  ruling  class. 

The  pictures  representing  the  court  life  of  the  nomarch  Chnemhotep 
(already  frequently  mentioned)  show  us  the  chiefs  of  the  kitchen  and  of 
the  garden,  and  besides  them  several  household  servants,  bearing  the  title 

5 ^ ; they  belong  apparently  to  the  princely  kitchen,  for  they  assist 

at  the  slaying  of  animals  and  bring  roast  meat,  jars  of  wine,  and  food,  to 
their  master.3  We  learn,  however,  from  a Berlin  stele,  that  a distinguished 
family  of  that  period  had  four  such  servants,  who  presided  over  the 
“ bakery  ” and  the  “ fruit-house.”  4 We  meet  with  them  also  forming  the 
lowest  rank  of  service  in  other  households  of  this  time,  as  for  instance  in 
the  house  of  one  master  who  possessed  no  office  at  all  under  government.0 

We  therefore  do  no  wrong  to  the  5^  if  we  translate  this  word  by 
the  term  slave. 

Under  the  19th  dynasty  these  slaves  rise  to  importance  in  the  state 
and  attain  high  honours.  One  is  a clerk  of  the  treasury,0  another  gives 
orders  to  the  officers  as  to  how  the  monuments  should  be  erected,'  and 
under  Ramses  IX.  we  even  meet  \$ith  two  prince  slaves , who  rank 
immediately  after  the  high  priests.  They  are  the  “ royal  slave  Nesamun, 
scribe  to  Pharaoh,  and  director  of  the  property  of  the  high  priestess 
of  Amon  Re‘,”  and  the  “royal  slave  Nefer-ke-Re‘-em-per-Amun,  speaker 
to  Pharaoh.”  8 We  shall  meet  with  both  in  the  next  chapter  in  the 
discharge  of  their  official  duties,  and  shall  have  occasion  to  consider  their 
abnormal  position  in  the  kingdom. 

1 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1084  and  1204.  2 lb.,  1079.  3 L.  D.,  ii.  128,  129. 

4 No.  7311,  as  a trusted  servant.  5 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  563  ; Louvre  7 (L.  A.). 

6 P.j.T.,  4,  14.  7 An.,  5,  24,  4.  8 Abb.  pass. 


io6 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


These  slaves  were  mostly  of  barbarian  birth  ; of  the  eleven  mentioned 
as  belonging  to  the  court  of  Ramses  III.  five  bear  foreign  names  : one  is, 
eg.  the  Libyan  Ynene,  whilst  another  rejoices  in  the  good  Phoenician  name 
of  Mahar-ba'al.1 *  Many  also  who  bore  Egyptian  names  were  probably  of 
foreign  origin.  Their  foreign  birth  makes  us  suspect  that  slaves  are  here 
intended,  and  a passage  in  a poem,  describing  in  long-winded  measures 
the  triumph  of  the  king,  leaves  us  in  no  doubt  that  such  is  the  case.  It 
is  there  stated  that  the  older  of  the  Cilician  captives  who  are  led  in 
triumph  before  the  King’s  balcony  are  to  work  in  the  brewery ; the 
younger  are  either  to  be  boatmen,  or  when  they  have  been  bathed,  anointed, 
and  clothed,  to  be  slaves  to  his  Majesty."  These  became  the  favourites 
of  the  kings  of  the  New  Empire,  who  seem  to  have  tried,  in  the  same 
way  as  the  Sultans  of  the  Middle  Ages,  by  the  purchase  of  slaves,  to  create 
for  themselves  a trustworthy  surrounding.  The  slaves  here  take  the 
place  of  the  Mamluks,  and  I need  hardly  say  that  the  same  motive,  viz. 
distrust  of  his  own  subjects,  led  the  monarch  in  both  cases  to  have  recourse 
to  this  strange  expedient,  by  which  slaves  rose  to  high  positions  in  both 
states.  As  a matter  of  fact  the  slaves  (like  the  Mamluks)  were  not 
always  faithful  to  their  masters, — some  of  them,  eg.,  took  part  in  the 
great  conspiracy  against  Ramses  III.3 

Amongst  the  court  officials  also  we  often  meet  with  foreigners  who 
may  have  been  slaves.  For  instance,  the  office  of  “ first  speaker  of  his 
Majesty,”  whose  duty  was  to  take  charge  of  the  intercourse  between  the 
king  and  his  attendants,  was,  under  King  Merenptah,  invested  in  the 
Canaanite  Ben-Mat'ana,  the  son  of  Jupa‘a,  from  D'arbarsana.4  At  court 
he  of  course  assumed  an  Egyptian  name;  he  was  called  “Ramses  in  the 
temple  of  Re‘ ” ; and  as  this  distinguished  name  might  also  belong  to  some 
of  his  colleagues,  he  bore  the  additional  name  of  the  “beloved  of  Heliopolis.” 
All  barbarians  were  probably  not  so  conscientious  as  Ben-Mat'ana  in 
confessing  their  foreign  origin,  consequently  we  may  suppose  that  many  of 
the  officials  named  after  the  reigning  king  may  have  been  Phoenicians 
or  Cilicians. 

We  have  already  remarked  that  the  feudal  system  of  the  country 
had  probably  come  to  a violent  end  ; something  however  remained  of 
the  old  provincial  governments,  though  in  a much  changed  form.5  The 
College  of  the  Thirty  is  mentioned  now  and  then,  at  any  rate  in  poetry.1’ 

The  old  nomarch  title  of  “ prince  ” “=^J  is  also  still  borne  by  the 

governors  of  great  towns  such  as  Thebes  or  Thirds, ‘ but  they  have  lost 
the  influence  and  power  which  these  princes  possessed  under  the  Middle 
Empire.  They  have  become  purely  government  officials  without  any 


1 P.j.T.,  2,  2 ; 4,  12,  14,  15.  - An.,  3,  8,  3 ; An.,  4,  16,  2.  3 P.j.T.,  4,  12,  14,  15. 

4 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab. , 1136  = Mar.  Ab. , ii.;  T. , 50, 

5 We  might  consider  the  “the  scribe  Pahri,  prince  of  Nechebt,  the  superintendent  of  the 

Prophets,”  as  a nomarch  in  the  old  sense  ; he  lived  in  the  beginning  of  the  1 8th  dynasty,  L.  D.,  iii. 

10  to  11.  n E.g.  An.,  5,  9,  5.  7 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  403  ; 1080. 


VI 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE 


107 


political  significance  ; Thebes  possessed  two  of  these  princes,  one  for 
the  town  proper,  the  other  for  the  quarter  of  the  dead.1  If  we  may 
trust  a representation  of  the  time  of  Sety  I.,  the  “ south  and  the  north  ” 
were  formerly  governed  by  19  princes.'2 

Between  the  Pharaoh  and  the  government  officials  a deputy  of  the 
monarch  now  appears  on  the  scene ; he  is  the  “ chief  mouth,”  i.e.  “ chief  of 
chiefs,  and  director  of  directors  of  the  works  ” ; under  Queen  Chnem- 
tamun  he  was  her  favourite  servant,  but  as  a rule  the  heir-presumptive  of 
the  throne  occupied  this  position.3  At  the  head  of  the  government  itself 
however  we  still  find  the  “chief  judge”  and  “governor,”  of  whom  there 
are  now  often  two  contemporaneously.4  In  the  old  time  these  men 
nearly  always  held  at  the  same  time  another  high  office,  viz.  that  of 
“lord  treasurer.”  Under  the  New  Empire  and  probably  earlier J they 
govern  the  town , i.e.  the  seat  of  government,  whether  it  were  Thebes,6 
Memphis,7  or  Ramses  in  the  Delta,  the  newly-founded  city  of  the  19th 
dynasty.s  In  the  capital  the  last  appeal,  even  in  temple  cases,9  was  to 
the  governor,  who  ranked  even  above  the  high  priests.10  When  the 

labourers  were  unable  to  get  their  corn  delivered  to  them  at  the  right 
time,  after  exhausting  all  other  resources,  they  appealed  to  him.  Each 
criminal  case  was  brought  before  him,  and  he  had  to  conduct  the  inquiry 
and  the  prosecution.  In  short,  he  was  the  first  police  magistrate  of  the 
capital,  and  probably  also  of  the  whole  kingdom.  Under  the  New 
Empire  a priestly  personage  was  often  chosen  as  governor  and  “superin- 
tendent of  the  town  ” ; either  the  high  priest  of  the  great  Theban  god 
Amon,11  or  the  high  priest  of  Ptah,  the  great  god  of  Memphis.12  He  then 
united  in  his  person  the  highest  temporal  and  spiritual  power,  and  was  not 
only  “ Chief  of  the  great  men  of  the  south  and  of  the  north,”  but  also 
“ Superintendent  of  the  prophets  of  the  south  and  of  the  north,”  or,  as  we 
should  say,  both  minister  of  the  interior  and  minister  of  public  worship. 

The  ancient  departments  of  the  royal  property  were  also  maintained, 
that  of  the  house  13  (i.e.  of  the  landed  property),  that  of  the  granaries,14 

1 Abbott  pass. 

2 L.  D.,  iii.  128  b.  We  must  not  overlook  that,  ib.  76,  the  “ first  men  of  the  south  and  north  ” 
together  with  the  “superintendent  of  the  house”  consist  only  of  34  persons. 

3 Senmut  : L.  D.,  iii.  25  i. ; Haremheb  (first  “chief  mouth”  and  then  “ deputy”).  Transactions 
of  Bib.  Archae. , iii.  486  ff.  ; Ramses  II.  (“  deputy  ” at  his  birth,  and  at  the  age  of  ten  years  “ chief 
mouth”  to  his  father);  Stele  of  Kuban,  1.,  16,  17;  Ramses  III.  (was  erpatte  and  then  at  the 
same  time  great  “ chief  mouth  for  the  countries  of  Egypt,  and  giver  of  orders  for  the  whole  country;” 
Harr.,  75.  10.  Under  Ramses  IX.  an  erpa'te  accompanies  the  governor  ; Insc.  in  the  hieratic 
character,  PI.  I. 

4 Under  Haremheb  the  “ two  superintendents  of  the  town,  of  the  south  and  of  the  north”; 
Diim.  Hist.  Insch.,  ii.  40  e.  Under  Ramses  III.,  Diim.  Hist.  Insch.,  i.  26,  27  ; Plarr.,  10.  10,  for 
the  two  halves  of  the  kingdom.  Under  Ramses  IX.,  on  the  contrary,  the  south  and  the  north  are 
ruled  by  the  same  governor,  as  we  see  from  Abbott,  6.  22. 

5 First  probably  under  the  6th  dynasty  R.  J.  II.,  153-4  ; M.  E. — L.  D.,  ii.  122  ; Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab., 

755  > Louvre,  C.  4.  C.  L.  A.  c‘  Abb.  pass.  7 Berlin  Museum,  2290. 

8 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1138.  9 Insc.  in  the  hierat.  char.  29.  10  Abb.  7,  3. 

11  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  408.  12  Berlin  Museum,  2290. 

13  “Superintendent  of  the  house  ” and  “ great  superintendent  of  the  house”:  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab., 
441-449.  u Abb.,  3,  3 ; L.  D.,  iii.  76,  77. 


io8 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


and  that  of  the  oxen,1  and  the  various  superintendents  were  men  of  note, 
able  to  erect  splendid  tombs  for  themselves.  The  office  of  “ superintendent 
of  the  granaries”  was  especially  important,  for  in  spite  of  all  conquests 
and  tributes,  the  real  wealth  of  Egypt  lay  in  the 
produce  of  corn.  The  “ superintendent  of  the 
granaries  ” had  to  take  care  that  this  was  plenteous, 
that  it  should  suffice  for  the  maintenance  of  all 
the  officials,  soldiers,  and  serfs  ; he  had  to  control 
and  to  demand  rich  supplies  from  the  “superin- 
tendents of  the  estates  (?)  of  Pharaoh  and  the 
chief  officials  of  the  south  and  of  the  north,  from 

the  miserable  land  of  Ethiopia  to  the  confines  of 

the  country  of  Naharina.”2  It  was  a great  day 
each  year  for  the  country  when  the  superintendent 
of  the  granaries  in  solemn  audience  presented  to 
the  monarch  the  “ account  of  the  harvests  of  the 
„ south  and  of  the  north  ” ; 3 and  if  he,  like  Cha‘-em- 

cha‘emhe‘t,  superintend- 
ent of  the  granaries  he‘t,  the  superintendent  of  granaries  to  Amenhotep 

of  amenhotep  hi.  (after  in  could  announce  to  his  master  that  the  inunda- 

L.  D. , in.  77  e). 

tion  was  good,  and  that  there  had  been  “ a better 
harvest  than  for  thirty  years,”  then  his  Majesty  would  show  special  honour 
to  his  faithful  servant,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  monarch  he  would  be 
anointed  and  decked  with  necklets  of  great  value.4 

The  department  of  the  treasury,  however,  though  in  quite  an  altered 
form,  still  held  the  highest  place  in  the  government.  We  hear  little  more 
of  the  “ treasurer  ” 5 except  the  empty  title  of  “ lord  treasurer  ” 

o which  is  still  borne  by  the  governors  ; 6 the  “ treasurers  ” have 

disappeared  as  well  as  the  “ superintendents  of  the  cabinet.”  Their  work  is 
done  for  the  most  part  by  soldiers,  and  the  rest,  that  belonging  to  what  we 
should  call  the  finance  department,  has  been  taken  over  by  the  “ house  of 
silver,”  which  formerly  formed  a subdivision  only  of  the  treasury.  At  the 
head  of  the  latter  are  various  “superintendents  of  the  house  of  silver,”' 
distinguished  men,  who  rank  directly  after  the  governor.8  Under  them 
are  the  “ deputies  ” 9 and  the  “ scribes  of  the  house  of  silver,”  whose  corre- 
spondence will  occupy  much  of  our  attention  ; we  shall  see  how  they 
deliver  up  the  wood  to  the  shipbuilders,10  how  they  cause  the  palace  of  the 
king  to  be  decorated,11  and  how  they  take  charge  of  the  commissariat  for 
the  court  when  travelling.12 

I Lee,  1.2.  2 L.  D.,  iii.  77.  3 L.  D.,  iii.  77.  4 L.  D.,  iii.  76. 

6  A “ lord  treasurer  ” is  mentioned  L.  D.,  iii.  3 a.  b.  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1061,  and  Stele  of  Kuban, 
1.  1 1.  Here  he  is  still  at  work.  The  “ superintendent  of  the  house  of  silver  ” bears  the  title  of  lord 
treasurer,  L.  D. , iii.  242. 

6 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  408. 

7 That  there  were  several  at  the  same  time  we  see  from  P.j.T. , 2,  1,5,  2. 

8 Insc.  in  the  hier.  char.  29.  9 L.  D.,  iii.  242.  10  An.,  4,  7,  9 ff. 

II  An.,  4,  16,  reverse  side.  12  An.,  4,  13,  8 ff.,  15,  1 ff. 


VI 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE 


109 


The  care  of  the  crown  jewels  was  also,  as  in  old  times,  vested  in  the 
treasury  department,  forming  part  of  the  duties  of  the  “ superintendent  of 
the  ointments  of  the  treasure-house  of  the  lord  of  the  two  countries,  of  the 
superintendent  of  the  royal  diadem  of  the  good  god.” 1 The  superin- 
tendent of  the  house  of 
silver  had  therefore  a num- 
ber of  artists  under  him  : 
the  “ deputy  of  the  artist  of 
the  house  of  silver,”  the 
“ chief  painter,”  and  the 
“ scribe  of  the  painters,”  as 
well  as  the  “ chief  architect 
of  the  house  of  silver.” 2 
We  must  also  mention  a few 
other  officials  who  belong 
here, for  instance  the  “keeper 
of  the  scales  of  the  house 
of  silver,”  who  boasts  that 
he  has  not  diminished  the 
revenues  of  the  gods,  nor 

0 ' TREASURY  OFFICIAL,  WEIGHING  RINGS  OF  GOLD 

falsified  the  tongue  of  the  (after  L.  d.  iii. , 39  a), 

balance.”  3 Also  the  distin- 
guished librarian  of  the  house  of  silver,  the  “ chief  keeper  of  the  books,”  4 
and  the  “ scribe  of  the  tribute  granary.”  0 

The  letters  between  the  “ scribe  ’Ennana  ” and  his  predecessor  and 
tutor  Qagabu,  the  scribe  of  the  house  of  silver,  give  us  a good  illustration 
of  the  working  of  this  department.  Both  belonged  probably  to  the 
treasury  department  in  the  Town  of  Ramses,  though  ’Ennana  was 
stationed  in  the  east  of  the  Delta. 

Qagabu  receives  a commission  from  his  chief,  “ Pare‘-em-heb,  the 
superintendent  of  the  house  of  silver,”  to  have  the  palace  of  the  king 
repainted  during  his  absence  ; e and  leaves  to  ’Ennana  the  more  prosaic  part 
of  the  work.  The  latter  with  the  workman  Ser-Amen-nacht,  is  also  to 
repair  a bark  of  acacia  wood,  which  has  been  out  of  the  water  for  many 
years,  and  which  is  falling  to  pieces.  Qagabu  writes  to  him,  “ When  you 
receive  my  letter,  go  together  and  look  at  the  acacia  planks  which  remain 
with  the  divine  bark  in  the  storehouse  at  Resnu,  and  choose  out  four 
boards  which  are  very  long,  very  broad,  and  very  beautiful,  and  use  them 
as  side  planks  for  the  acacia  bark  which  is  with  them  in  the  storehouse, 
putting  two  boards  on  each  side.  See  then  what  else  is  left  of  good  wood 
for  facing,  and  repair  it  from  bow  to  stern.”  ' 

1 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab. , 1122.  - L.  D.,  iii.  242,  as  funeral  procession  of  those  placed  before. 

3 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1102.  4 An.,  6,  3,  13.  5 Mallet,  3,  2. 

(i  An.,  4,  16,  reverse  side. 

7 An.,  4,  7,  9 ff.  The  word  used  may  be  “ beams  ” instead  of  “ planks,”  the  words  “ side  planks  ” 

and  “repair”  are  entirely  hypothetical. 


I 10 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Another  time  he  commissions  him  to  inspect  the  vineyard  of  the 
temple  of  Amon  in  the  town  of  Ramses  and  to  deliver  up  the  wine  that 
was  pressed.  ’Ennana  faithfully  carried  out  these  instructions,  and  sent  to 
his  predecessor  the  following  account  of  his  journey,  which  gives  us  a 
good  example  of  the  formal  style  used  in  such  official  reports  ; he  says  : 1 
“ When  I came  to  Nay-Ramessu-Mry-Amun  on  the  bank  of  the  Poter, 
with  the  transport  boat  of  my  Master  and  with  the  two  span  of  oxen  of 
the  house  of  Sety  II.  in  the  temple  of  Amon  enduring  for  millions  of  years, 
I then  appointed  the  number  of  gardeners  for  the  gardens  of  the  house 
of  Sety  II.  in  the  temple  of  Amon  enduring  for  millions  of  years.  I found  : 


Men  . 

7 

Youths 

4 

Lads  . 

4 

Boys  . 

6 

Total 

2 1 souls. 

“ List  of  the  wine  which  I found  sealed  by  the  head  gardener  T'at’ery  : 


Wine  .... 

Jars 

1 500 

Shedeh-Drink 

* Ji 

50 

Pauer- Drink  . 

* 

50 

’Enharmaa  Fruits  . 

Baskets 

50 

Bunches  of  Grapes 

• >> 

50 

Packages 

60 

“ I laded  the  two  ox  waggons  of  the  house  of  Sety  II.  in  the  temple  of 
Amon  enduring  for  millions  of  years,  and  drove  up  stream  to  the  town 
of  the  house  of  Ramses  II.  of  the  great  image  of  Re‘  Harmachis.  I there 
delivered  them  into  the  hands  of  the  official  in  charge  of  the  house  of  Sety 
II.  in  the  temple  of  Amon  enduring  for  millions  of  years,  and  I now  write 
this  report  to  my  master.” 

A much  more  important  commission  was  also  placed  in  the  hands  of 
’Ennana  ; viz.  the  commissariat  of  the  court.  The  king  when  he  travelled 
required  that  everything  should  be  prepared  at  the  various  places  where 
he  proposed  to  stop,  and  the  “ scribe  of  the  house  of  silver  ” had  almost 
more  than  he  could  do  to  provide  everything  needed  for  the  stay  of  the 
court.  His  chief  sent  him  a letter  telling  him  of  the  proposed  arrival  of 
“ Pharaoh  his  good  lord,”  and  exhorting  him  to  follow  the  instructions 
exactly  as  to  the  order  of  the  stages,  and  on  no  account  to  allow  himself 
to  be  guilty  of  any  indolence.’2  The  task  was  not  a light  one,  as  the 
quantities  concerned  were  very  large.  Six  kinds  of  good  bread , in  all 
16,000  pieces,  were  required,  of  other  bread  13,200  pieces,  of  various 
kinds  of  cake  4000  pieces,  and  200  baskets.  In  addition  100  baskets  of 

1 An.,  4,  6,  10  ff. 

2 An.,  4,  13,  8 ff.  Whether  htp  means  exactly  a basket  I cannot  tell,  it  may  signify  a reed 
box.  A similar  letter,  An.,  4,  1 5,  I ff.,  is  in  more  general  terms. 


VI 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE 


1 1 1 


dried  meat,  90  jars  of  butter,  and  corresponding  quantities  of  milk,  geese, 
etc.  The  number  of  baskets  of  figs,  grapes,  and  other  fruits  was  also 
considerable  ; 100  wreaths  of  flowers  were  necessary  to  deck  the  jars  of 
wine,  100  loads  of  hay  for  the  horses,  2000  pieces  of  wood  for  kitchen 
fuel  as  well  as  200  loads  of  coal.  The  usual  baskets  of  the  treasury  did 
not  suffice  for  the  packing  and  transporting  of  these  quantities,  and  there- 
fore the  clerk  had  also  to  order  500  new  reed  baskets  from  the  basket- 
makers. 

Let  us  hope  that  ’Ennana  got  through  his  difficult  task  well,  and  thus 
escaped  the  threatened  censure.  It  would  have  been  considered  a great 
crime , had  he  allowed  Pharaoh  to  “ travel  to  Heliopolis,  without  all  his 
requirements  in  his  rear.” 1 

On  another  occasion  ’Ennana  really  fell  into  serious  embarrassment. 
Amongst  other  duties,  he  had  to  superintend  a number  of  peasants,  who 
worked  as  serfs  on  the  fields,  while  their  wives  were  busy  weaving  for  the 
state.  Some  months  previously  he  had  handed  over  to  his  chief,  the 
“ superintendent  of  the  house  of  silver,”  certain  large  quantities  of  material 
woven  by  these  women,  and  he  was  now  prepared  to  hand  over  the  178 
pieces  of  stuff  which  had  been  woven  since  that  time.  Meanwhile 
another  high  official,  the  “ master  of  the  house  ” (i.e.  the  superintendent  of 
the  estate),  to  whom  the  harvest  of  these  peasants  was  due,  discovered 
that  the  work  also  of  the  wives  ought  to  be  given  in  to  him , and  there  was 
probably  some  truth  in  his  view  of  the  matter.  He  accordingly  went 
boldly  to  ’Ennana,  and,  as  the  latter  said,  “ did  to  him  all  manner  of  evil.” 
He  then  caused  him  to  be  brought  by  three  of  his  servants  before  Huv, 
the  superintendent  of  the  soldiers,  and  Ptahemheb,  the  scribe,  who  in  that 
city  had  the  care  of  the  registration  of  the  serfs.  A list  of  his  peasants- — 
containing,  as  he  maintained,  many  errors — was  placed  before  ’Ennana, 
and  on  the  strength  of  this  list  the  superintendent  of  the  property  pro- 
ceeded against  him.  “ When  the  register  of  the  peasantry  had  been 
made  out  to  me,”  wrote  ’Ennana  to  Qagabu,  “ he  excited  people  against 
me  to  say  ‘ Give  up  the  work  of  the  peasants.’  Thus  he  said.  And 
yet  I had  already  given  in  the  work  of  the  peasants  to  the  superintendent 
of  the  house  of  silver,  and  the  work  had  been  accepted  more  than  five 
months  before,  in  the  second  summer  month  ! He  then  took  from  me  the 
woven  work  that  I was  about  to  give  in  to  the  superintendent  of  the 
house  of  silver.  I subjoin  a list  of  the  work  that  was  taken  from  me,  that 
the  superintendent  of  the  house  of  silver  may  see  it  : 


Royal  linen  .... 

No.  of  pieces 

87 

Linen  ..... 

64 

Good  linen  of  Upper  Egypt 

27 

Total 

178 

’Ennana  at  length  summoned  his  opponent  before  the  princes , and 

1 From  An.,  4,  10,  8 ff. 


I 12 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


through  their  intervention  the  affair  seems,  outwardly  at  any  rate,  to 
have  been  adjusted  ; yet  he  still  had  many  vexations  to  bear  from 
the  superintendent  of  the  house.  “ When  the  latter  sent  out  the  two 
scribes  of  the  soldiers  to  fetch  in  the  harvest,  they  took  away  for  the 
second  time  two  peasant  women  from  the  village  of  Pa’eshemu,  and  ordered 
’Ennana  to  give  them  a youth,  though  he  had  only  the  one  who  kept  the 
cattle  of  the  proprietor  Thothmes.”  This  and  many  other  things  the 
superintendent  of  the  estate  did  to  ’Ennana  merely  out  of  revenge  ; he 
said  openly  to  him  : “ This  happens  to  you  because  you  gave  up  the 
woven  work  of  the  peasant  women  to  the  superintendent  of  the  house  of 
silver.”  ’Ennana  was  able  to  do  nothing  against  his  powerful  enemy  : he 
could  only  beseech  his  chief  Qagabu  to  speak  a word  for  him  to  the 
“ great  one  of  the  house,”  who  was  over  the  wicked  “ superintendent  of 
the  house,”  so  that  at  least  he  might  get  back  the  four  peasant  women 


who  had  been  taken  from  him  with  no  pretext  of  justice.1  Whether 
this  step  was  successful,  or  how  the  matter  further  developed,  we  know 
not. 

Numerous  documents  have  come  down  to  us,  showing  how  the 
accounts  were  kept  in  the  department  of  the  “ house  of  silver,”  and  in 
similar  departments;  the  translation  of  these  is  however  extremely  difficult, 
owing  to  the  number  of  unknown  words  and  the  abbreviations  they 
contain.  These  documents  show  exactly  how  much  was  received,  from 
whom  and  when  it  came  in,  and  the  details  of  how  it  was  used.  This 
minute  care  is  not  only  taken  in  the  case  of  large  amounts,  but  even 
the  smallest  quantities  of  corn  or  dates  are  conscientiously  entered. 
Nothing  was  done  under  the  Egyptian  government  without  documents  : 
lists  and  protocols  were  indispensable  even  in  the  simplest  matters  of 
business.  This  mania  for  writing  (we  can  designate  it  by  no  other  term) 
is  not  a characteristic  of  the  later  period  only  ; doubtless  under  the  Old 
and  the  Middle  Empire  the  scribes  wrote  as  diligently  as  under  the  New 
Empire.  The  pictures  in  the  old  tombs  testify  to  this  fact,  for  whether  the 
corn  is  measured  out,  or  the  cattle  are  led  past,  everywhere  the  scribes 
are  present.  They  squat  on  the  ground,  with  the  deed  box  or  the  case 

1 An.,  6,  the  first  letter. 


VI 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE 


>3 


for  the  papyrus  rolls  by  them,  a pen  in  reserve  behind  the  ear,  and  the 
strip  of  papyrus  on  which  they  are  writing,  in  their  hands.  Each  estate 
has  its  own  special  bureau,  where  the  sons  of  the  proprietor  often  preside.1 
We  find  the  same  state  of  things  in  the  public  offices  : each  judge  is  also 
entitled  “ chief  scribe,”  and  each  chief  judge  is  the  “superintendent  of  the 
writing  of  the  king  ” ; one  of  the  great  men  of  the  south  is  called 
Superintendent  of  the  writing  on  agriculture, 

Director  of  the  writing  in  the  agricultural  department, 

Director  of  the  writing  on  agriculture,  (?) 

Head  scribe,  scribe  of  the  king, 

Director  of  the  writing  of  petitions  2 ; (?) 
in  short,  we  see  that  all  the  government  business  was  done  in  writing. 
To  superintend  and  to  write  deeds  was  much  the  same  thing,  according 
to  Egyptian  ideas,  and  a “scribe”  was  an  official.  In  later  times  there 
were  a host  of  scribes  in  each  department — -in  the  house  of  silver,  to  which 
’Ennana  and  Qagabu  belonged,  there  were  at  least  nine,3  and  even  the 
army  was  under  bureaucratic  government,  the  “ scribe  of  the  troops  ” being 
one  of  the  chief  officers. 

There  were  also  scribes  who  personally  assisted  the  heads  of  the 
various  departments,  as  e.g.  the  governor,4  the  “ prince  ” of  a town,5  or  the 
“ superintendent  of  the  house  of  silver  ” ; 6 these  officials  doubtless  often 
exercised  great  influence  as  the  representatives  for  their  masters.  The 
monarch  also  always  had  his  private  secretary  ; under  the  Old  Empire  we 
find  the  “ scribe  in  the  presence  of  the  king,”  7 under  the  Middle  Empire 
the  “ scribe  witness  in  the  presence  of  the  king,” 3 and  under  the  New 
Empire  the  “ royal  vassal  and  scribe  of  Pharaoh.”  9 

The  well-known  proposition  that  what  cannot  be  put  into  documental 
form  does  not  exist  was  in  force  in  Egyptian  affairs,  and  the  following 
phrase  was  therefore  often  added  to  business  letters  : “ I write  this  to  you, 
that  it  may  serve  as  a witness  between  us,  and  you  must  keep  this  letter, 
that  in  future  it  may  serve  as  a witness.” 10  Copies  also  were  made  of 
certain  deeds,  so  that  original  and  copy  might  vouch  for  each  other.11 
Nothing  was  given  out  by  the  treasury  department  without  a written  order, 
and  even  an  official  who  wanted  to  take  his  annual  quantum  of  fuel  and 
coal  from  the  treasury  was  not  able  to  get  it  before  the  superintendent 
of  the  house  of  silver  had  given  him  a written  order.12  Full  written  details 
were  also  necessary  ; in  vain  a “ chief  of  the  militia  ” tried  to  obtain  a 
number  of  serfs  from  the  commander  of  the  mercenaries  ; not  one  could 
be  given  up  to  him  until  he  brought  a list  of  names.13  The  chief  entirely 
approved  of  these  formalities.  This  punctiliousness  extended  to  the  smallest 
details  ; if  oxen  were  borrowed  for  threshing,  the  driver  had  a list  of  the 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  g.  2 Mar.  Mast.,  150,  and  many  similar  passages.  2 An.,  4,  9,  reverse  side. 

4 Abb.,  1,  11.  5 Abb.,  6,  11. 

Abb.,  1,  12,  at  the  same  time  chief  of  a storehouse. 

7 E.g.,  Mar.  Mast.,  229.  8 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  567,  627,  628,  630.  9 Abb.,  2,  5. 

10  Mallet,  4,  6;  An.,  5,  14,  6.  11  Mallet,  6,  1,  11.  Berlin  Pap.,  47  (A.  Z.,  1879). 

12  Mallet,  5,  6.  12  An.,  5,  25,  6 ff. 

I 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


11  + 


cattle  given  to  him  1 and  if  a workman  received  his  ration  of  corn,  a formal 
receipt  was  given  to  him  with  it.2 

The  scribe  engrossed  deeds  in  this  wise  : “ to  be  copied  ” 3 or  “ to  be 
kept  in  the  archives  of  the  governor.”  4 The  documents  were  then  given 
into  the  care  of  the  chief  librarian  5 of  the  department  they  concerned,  and 
he  placed  them  in  large  vases  and  catalogued  them  carefully.  Thus  a 
librarian  of  the  20th  dynasty  records  that  he  had  examined  two  of  his 
vases  of  books  in  the  sixth  year  of  the  king.6  The  first  of  them  contained 
(if  I understand  rightly)  two  accounts  belonging  to  private  people,  which 
were  kept  in  the  archives  ; the  protocol  of  a revision  of  the  “ wreaths  ” 
for  the  temple  of  Amon,  and  two  large  rolls  and  four  small  ones,  containing 
deeds  belonging  to  the  temple  of  Ramses  III.  : 

“ Total  number  of  rolls  found  in  the  vase  of  books  . . . 9.” 

In  the  other  vases  were  kept  the  deeds  relating  to  the  lawsuit  against  the 
tomb-robbers,  of  whom  we  shall  have  to  speak  in  the  following  chapter. 


It  contained  the  following  documents  : 

“ Receipt  for  the  gold,  silver,  and  copper  which  was  found 

stolen  by  the  workers  in  the  necropolis  1 

The  re-examination  of  the  Pyramids  1 

The  trial  of  certain  people  found  desecrating  a tomb  on 
the  waste  ground  of  the  town  . . . . .1 

The  examination  of  the  pyramid  of  the  king  Re‘-sechem- 
mery-taue  ........  1 

The  examination  of  the  tomb  of  the  governor  Ser,  carried 
out  by  the  metal-worker  U'ares  1 

List  of  the  copper  goods  stolen  by  the  thieves  in  the 
Necropolis  called  ‘ Place  of  beauties  ’ . . . 1 

The  names  of  the  thieves  ......  1 

The  trial  of  Paiqahay,  formerly  controller,  now  out  of 

office  . . . . . . . . I ” 


Two  papyrus  rolls  now  in  the  Berlin  Museum  were  actually  found  in  a 
vase.7 

The  above  history  of  the  development  of  the  Egyptian  empire  could 
be  much  amplified  by  further  research,  especially  with  regard  to  the 
New  Empire  ; the  essential  features  would  however  remain  unchanged. 
Instead  therefore  of  giving  further  details,  I propose  to  describe  a number 
of  incidents  illustrative  of  the  constitution  of  the  Egyptian  bureaucracy. 
They  all  refer  to  the  officials  of  the  New  Empire,  with  whom  however 
the  servants  of  the  old  state  had  probably  much  in  common  with  those 
of  whom  we  shall  now  speak.  I am  chiefly  indebted  for  these  particulars 

: An.,  9,  3.  2 X.  Z.,  1880,  97.  3 Berlin  Pap.,  47.  4 Abbot,  7,  16. 

5 Keeper  of  archives  to  the  treasury  department,  An.,  6,  3,  12.  Others  Sail.,  1,  3,  5,  and 
frequently. 

6 Vienna  papyrus  edited  by  Brugsch,  A.  Z.,  1876,  pi.  1.  My  translation  is  untrustworthy  in 

places,  the  text  needing  much  revision.  7 Passalacqua,  Catalogue  raisonne,  p.  207. 


VI 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE 


1 I : 


to  the  so-called  didactic  letters,  i.e.  the  correspondence  parti)’  real,  partly 
fictitious,  between  a tutor  and  his  pupil,  or,  what  comes  to  the  same  thing, 
between  a higher  official  and  his  subordinate.  It  was  the  custom  in  the 
later  period  that  whoever  wished  for  an  official  career  should  first  be 
placed  under  the  supervision  of  a superintendent  or  a scribe  of  the  treasury, 
not  only  to  learn  his  practical  work,  but  also  for  his  education  and  intel- 
lectual training.  It  is  evident  that  such  a professional  training  would 
induce  narrow  views  of  life.  The  doctrine  taught  by  these  teachers  was 
that  the  position  of  “ scribe,”  i.e.  the  official  position,  stood  above  all 
others  ; the  latter  resembled  the  donkey,  while  the  scribe  was  as  the 
driver  who  drove  the  heavily  laden  beast  before  him.1  “ His  position  is 
princely  and  his  writing  materials  and  books  are  sweet  and  rich  ; ” 2 for 
the  industrious  student  attains  to  position,  power,  and  riches. 

Position,  power,  and  riches  could  not  indeed  be  won  even  by  the  most 
diligent,  unless  his  superior,  “his  lord,”  as  the  Egyptians  said,  was  pleased 
to  bestow  them  upon  him.  The  scribe  was  therefore  obliged  before  all 
things  to  try  and  stand  well  with  his  chief,  and  for  this  purpose  he  followed 
the  recipe,  which  has  been  in  use  during  all  ages  : “ Bend  thy  back  before 
thy  chief,”  3 taught  the  wise  Ptahhotep  of  old,  and  the  Egyptian  officials 
conscientiously  followed  this  maxim.  Submission  and  humility  towards 
their  superior  officers  became  second  nature  to  them,  and  was  expressed  in 
all  the  formulas  of  official  letter-writing.  Whilst  the  chief  writes  to  his 
subordinates  in  the  most  abrupt  manner  : “ Do  this  or  that,  when  you 
receive  my  letter,”  and  rarely  omits  to  add  admonitions  and  threats,  the 
subordinate  bows  down  before  him  in  humility.  He  does  not  dare  to 
speak  directly  to  him,  and  only  ventures  to  write  “ in  order  to  rejoice  the 
heart  of  his  master,  that  his  master  may  know  that  he  has  fulfilled  all  the 
commissions  with  which  he  was  intrusted,  so  that  his  master  may  have  no 
cause  to  blame  him.”  No  one  was  excepted  from  writing  in  this  style  ; 
the  scribe  ’Ennana  writes  thus  to  “ his  master  Qagabu,  the  scribe  of  the 
house  of  silver,”  and  in  the  same  way  he  assures  “ Pare'emheb  the  super- 
intendent of  the  house  of  silver  ” of  his  respect.4  Besides  this  official 
correspondence,  personal  submission  and  affection  are  also  often  expressed 
towards  a superior,  and  a grateful  young  subordinate  sends  the  following 
lines  to  his  chief : 5 

“ I am  as  a horse  pawing  the  ground, 

My  heart  awakes  by  day, 

And  my  eyes  by  night, 

For  I desire  to  serve  my  master, 

As  a slave  who  serves  his  master.” 

The  manner  in  which  he  “serves  his  master”  could  surely  have  been  carried 
out  without  these  night  watches  ; he  builds  him  a villa  in  his  imagination, 
and  describes  it  to  him  in  twenty-four  lines  of  poetry.  In  return,  the 
duty  of  the  chief  towards  his  subordinate  was  to  protect  his  rights  from 

1 A.  Z.,  1880,  96.  2 An.,  5,  10,  8 = Sail.,  r,  3,  10;  cp.  An.,  5,  9,  5.  3 Prisse,  13,  9. 

4 An.,  4 pass,  and  An.,  4,  16  reverse  side,  as  well  as  An.,  6.  5 An.,  4,  8,  8. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


1 1 6 


the  encroachments  of  others,  eg.  a scribe,  wronged  by  one  of  his  colleagues, 
complains  to  his  master  that  he  was  as  if  he  had  no  chief,  that  he  was 
without  protection  even  as  a widow.1 

Manifold  were  the  small  troubles  which  had  to  be  endured  by  the 
official  in  his  career.  A certain  official  trusting  in  the  fact  that  his 
superior  was  a “ servant  of  Pharaoh,  standing  below  his  feet,”  i.e.  living  at 
the  court,  ventured  to  depart  a little  from  the  instructions  he  had  received 
touching  a distant  field  in  the  provinces.  But  his  master , hearing  of  it, 
sent  a letter  of  admonition  to  the  guilty  official  : “ One  of  my  servants  (he 
wisely  does  not  name  the  accuser)  came  and  told  me  that  you  are  acting 
dishonestly  with  regard  to  that  part  of  my  field  which  lies  in  the  district 
of  Ta-  . . et-Re‘.  What  does  it  mean  that  you  in  this  way  violate  my 
instructions?”2  Well  for  the  servant  who  got  off  so  lightly,  for  it  often 
happened  that  a “ royal  order  was  brought  to  him,”  i.e.  that  his  reprimand 
came  from  the  central  authority.  Thus  it  happened  that  a high  official  of 
the  treasury  did  not  sufficiently  examine  certain  people  (I  cannot  quite 
make  out  who  are  meant  by  the  T'ektana)  who  came  into  Egypt  out  of 
the  oasis  ; he  allowed  them  to  depart,  and  he  then  had  to  send  one  of  his 
scribes  to  the  oasis.  This  negligence  was  considered  a great  crime  ; it 
appeared  incredible  to  the  officials  of  the  royal  treasury  that  such  was  the 
state  of  the  affair  ; they  still  hoped  that  the  gods  Re‘  and  Ptah  would 
hear  a more  satisfactory  account.  Yet  “ shouldst  thou,”  as  the  prince 
wrote,  “ have  allowed  the  T'ektana  spies  to  have  escaped,  where  wilt  thou 
then  turn  ? Into  what  house  wilt  thou  flee  ? Like  a sandstorm  it  would 
fall  on  thy  head.”  3 He  was  advised  with  threats  to  bring  the  matter  into 
order,  and  immediately  on  receipt  of  “ this  writing  of  the  Pharaoh  ” to  his 
scribe,  to  send  the  swiftest  courier  to  the  oasis  and  to  order  him  on  pain 
of  death  to  bring  back  one  of  the  T'ektana. 

A scribe  had  not  only  to  fear  severity  from  those  above  him,  but 
also  annoyances  from  his  colleagues  and  his  comrades.  Each  high 
official  watched  jealously  that  no  one  should  meddle  with  his  business, 
and  that  the  lower  officials  should  give  up  their  accounts  and  the  work  of 
the  serfs  to  him  and  not  to  one  of  his  colleagues.  He  was  always  ready 
to  regard  small  encroachments  on  his  rights  as  criminal  deviations  from 
the  good  old  customs,  and  to  denounce  them  as  such  to  the  higher  powers, 
and  when  not  able  to  do  this,  he  vexed  his  rival  in  every  way  that  he 
could.4 

Another  misfortune  which  could  always  befall  an  official  was  to  be 
sent  to  a bad  locality.  There  were  such  in  Egypt,  and  those  who  had  to 
live  in  the  oases  or  in  the  swamps  of  the  Delta  had  good  right  to  com- 
plain. A letter  has  come  down  to  us  5 written  by  one  of  these  unfortunate 
scribes  to  his  superior  ; he  was  stationed  in  a place  otherwise  unknown  to 
us — Qenqen-taue,  which  he  said  was  bad  in  every  respect.  If  he  wished  to 

1 An.  6,  3,  8-9. 

2 An.  5,  27,  3-7.  The  kind  of  dishonesty  spoken  of  in  the  text  I do  not  understand. 

3 An.,  4,  10,  8 ff.  4 Abbott  and  An.,  6.  5 An.,  4,  12,  5 ff. 


VI 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE 


ii  7 


build,  “ there  was  no  one  to  mould  bricks,  and  there  was  no  straw  in  the 
neighbourhood.”  What  was  he  to  do  under  these  circumstances  ? “I 
spend  my  time,”  he  complains,  “ in  looking  at  what  there  is  in  the  sky 
(i.e.  the  birds),  I fish,  my  eye  watches  the  road  ...  I lie  down  under  the 
palms,  whose  fruit  is  uneatable.  Where  are  their  dates  ? They  bear 
none  ! ” Otherwise  also  the  food  was  bad  ; the  best  drink  to  be  got  was 
beer  from  Cede.  Two  things  there  were  indeed  in  plenty  in  Qenqen-taue  : 
flies  and  dogs.  According  to  the  scribe  there  were  500  dogs  there, 
300  wolf-hounds  and  200  others  ; every  day  they  came  to  the  door  of 
his  house  to  accompany  him  on  his  walks.  These  were  rather  too  many 
for  him,  though  he  was  fond  of  two,  so  much  so  that,  for  want  of  other 
material  to  write  about,  he  describes  them  fully  in  his  letter.  One  was 
the  little  wolf-hound  belonging  to  one  of  his  colleagues  ; he  ran  in  front 
of  him  barking  when  he  went  out.  The  other  was  a red  dog  of  the  same 
breed  with  an  exceptionally  long  tail  ; he  prowled  round  the  stables  at 
night.  The  scribe  had  not  much  other  news  to  give  from  Oenqen-taue, 
except  the  account  of  the  illness  of  one  of  his  colleagues.  Each  muscle 
of  his  face  twitches.  “ He  has  the  Uashat’ete  illness  in  his  eyes.  The 
worm  bites  his  tooth.”  This  might  be  in  consequence  of  the  bad  climate. 

Another  scribe,  a native  of  Memphis,  writes  how  much  he  suffers  from 
ennui  and  home-sickness  in  his  present  station  ; his  heart  leaves  his  body, 
it  travels  up-stream  to  his  home.  “ I sit  still,”  he  writes,  “ while  my  heart 
hastens  away,  in  order  to  find  out  how  things  are  in  Memphis.  I can  do 
no  work.  My  heart  throbs.  Come  to  me  Ptah,  and  lead  me  to  Memphis, 
let  me  but  see  it  from  afar.”  1 He  was  indeed  considered  fortunate  who 
escaped  these  unpleasant  experiences,  and  remained  at  home,  or  was  sent 
to  the  same  station  with  his  father  ; his  friends  all  congratulated  him. 
Thus  Seramun,  the  chief  of  the  mercenaries  and  of  the  foreigners,  writes 
to  Pahripedt,  the  chief  of  the  mercenaries,  who  has  been  sent  to  the  same 
place  in  the  Syrian  desert  where  his  father  was  already  stationed  : “ I 
have  received  the  news  you  wrote  to  me  : the  Pharaoh,  my  good  lord,  has 
shown  me  his  good  pleasure;  ‘the  Pharaoh  has  appointed  me  to  command 
the  mercenaries  of  this  oasis.’  Thus  didst  thou  write  to  me.  Owing  to 
the  good  providence  of  Re‘,  thou  art  now  in  the  same  place  with  thy 
father.  Ah  ! bravo ! bravo ! I rejoiced  exceedingly  when  I read  thy 
letter.  May  it  please  Re‘  Harmachis  that  thou  shouldst  long  dwell  in 
the  place  with  thy  father.  May  the  Pharaoh  do  to  thee  according  to  thy 
desire.  Mayest  thou  become  ever  more  powerful ; write  to  me  I pray  thee 
by  the  letter-carrier,  who  comes  here  from  thee,  and  say  how  it  goes  with 
thee  and  with  thy  father.”  2 That  official  was  indeed  happy,  to  whom  the 
Pharaoh  was  thus  well  disposed,  who  “ received  rewards  from  the  king, 
and  was  in  favour  with  the  king  in  his  time.”3  The  poet  truly  says  of  him  : 

“ Thou  dost  live,  thou  art  happy,  thou  hast  good  health, 

Thou  art  neither  in  poverty  nor  in  misery. 


3 An.,  4,  4,  3. 


1 An.,  4,  4,  11  ff. 


2 An.,  5,  ii,  7 ff. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Thou  art  as  enduring  as  the  hours — 

Thy  purposes  endure,  thy  life  is  long — 

Thy  words  are  excellent. 

Thine  eye  sees  what  is  good, 

Thou  dost  hear  what  is  pleasant, 

Thou  seest  good  things,  thou  hearest  pleasant  things, 

Thou  standest  firm,  and  thine  enemy  doth  fall, 

He  who  spake  against  thee  is  no  more.”1 

Such  good  fortune  does  not  befall  men  by  chance,  it  is  the  gift  of  the 
great  god  Amon  Re1.2  Oagabu,  the  scribe  of  the  house  of  silver,  trusted 
in  him  when,  longing  for  promotion,  he  said  : “Thou  wilt  find  that  Amon 
fulfils  thy  desire  in  his  hour  of  graciousness.  Thou  art  praised  in  the 
midst  of  the  princes  and  dost  stand  firm  in  the  place  of  truth.  Amon 
Re‘  ! thy  great  Nile  overflows  even  the  mountains,  he  is  the  lord  of  the 
fish,  rich  in  birds,  all  orphans  are  satisfied  by  him — therefore  do  thou 
promote  princes  to  the  place  of  princes,  place  the  scribe  Oagabu  before 
Thoth,  thy  (scribe)  of  truth.”  3 

“ Visible  tokens  of  recognition  ” (the  modern  synonym  for  orders  of 
merit)  were  not  wanting  in  this  well-ordered  state.  As  early  as  under 
the  Middle  Empire  a high  officer  boasts  that  “ the  gold  had  been  given  to 
him  as  a reward,” 4 and  this  decoration  became  quite  usual  under  the 
military  government  of  the  1 8th  dynasty.5  The  biographers  of  the 
generals  of  these  warrior  kings  never  forget  to  relate  how  many  times  the 
deceased  received  from  his  lord  “ the  reward  of  the  gold.”  A‘hmose,  son 
of  ’Ebana  the  Admiral,  was  seven  times  “ decorated  with  the  gold  ” ; the 
first  time  he  received  the  “gold  of  valour”  was  as  a youth  in  the  fight 
against  the  Hyksos,  the  last  time  as  an  old  man  in  the  Syrian  campaigns 
of  Thothmes  I.  His  contemporary,  namesake,  and  fellow-countryman,  the 
general  A'hmose,  was  decorated  with  the  gold  by  each  of  the  kings  under 
whom  he  fought,  while  Amenemheb,  the  general  under  Thothmes  III., 
won  it  six  times  under  this  monarch.  Each  time  it  was  “for  valour”; 
he  brought  his  captives  from  beyond  the  Euphrates,  he  captured  Syrian 
chiefs,  or  at  the  head  of  the  most  daring  he  stormed  a breach  in  the  wall 
of  a town. 

What  was  this  decoration,  the  possession  of  which  was  so  coveted  by 
the  distinguished  men  of  all  times?  It  was  not  one  simple  decoration 
like  our  modern  orders,  or  the  “chains  of  honour”  of  the  1 6th  century, 
but  it  consisted  of  valuable  pieces  of  jewelry  of  different  kinds.  Thus 
the  gold , which  was  “ bestowed  in  the  sight  of  all  men,”  upon  Amen- 
emheb before  Kadesh,  consisted  of  a lion,  three  necklets,  two  bees,  and 
four  bracelets  — all  worked  in  the  finest  gold  ; the  rewards,  which  he 
won  some  time  later  in  the  country  of  T’echse,  consisted  of  the  very 

1 An.,  5,  14,  7-15,  5,  with  omissions.  The  closing  lines  also  literally,  An.,  4,  3,  1 1. 

2 An.,  4,  4,  2.  3 An.,  4,  10,  5 ff.  4 L.  D.,  ii.  138  a. 

5 For  the  bestowal  of  the  “gold”  compare  the  inscriptions  of  A'hmose  (L.  D.,  iii.  12  d.),  of 

Amenemheb  (A.  Z.,  1873,  i)>  of  Paser  (A.  Z.,  1883,  135),  and  especially  of  A'hmose  Pennechebt 

(Prisse,  Mon.  4 and  A.  Z.,  1883,  78). 


VI 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  NEIV  EMPIRE 


119 


same  objects  again.  Amenhotep  I.  bestowed  the  “ gold  ” upon  the  general 
A'hmose  in  the  form  of  four  bracelets,  one  vessel  for  ointment,  six  bees,  a 
lion,  and  two  hatchets  ; Thothmes  I.  was  still  more  generous,  he  gave  him 
four  golden  bracelets,  six  golden  necklets,  three  ointment  vases  of  lapis- 
lazuli,  and  two  silver  clasps  for  the  arms.  We  see  that  the  value  of  the 
metal  alone  in  such  a present  was  very  great,  and  yet  the  “ reward  of  the 
gold  ” was  valued  more  for  its  symbolic  signification  than  for  its  intrinsic 
worth.  The  richest  and  the  highest  in  the  land  vied  with  each  other  in 
order  to  be  rewarded  in  solemn  fashion  by  the  king  “ before  all  the  people, 
in  the  sight  of  the  whole  country.”  We  do  not  know  how  the  investiture 
was  carried  out  in  the  camp,  or  on  the  battlefields  of  those  warlike  kings, 
but  the  remarkable  tomb-pictures  describing  the  court  life  of  the  heretic 
king  Chu-en-’eten  show  us  how  the  ceremony  was  conducted  at  home  in 
time  of  peace. 

The  “ divine  father  ’Ey  ” played  a prominent  part  at  court  in  the  new 
town,  the  Horizon  of  the  Sun.1 2  He  had  not  held  high  rank  under  the 
old  hierarchy,  but  he  had  risen  to  be  the  confidant  of  the  above  king, 
perhaps  owing  to  the  active  part  he  had  taken  in  the  royal  efforts  at 
reformation.  He  does  not  seem  to  have  held  high  religious  rank;  at  court 
he  bore  the  title  of  “ fan-bearer  on  the  right  side  of  the  king,”  and  of 
“ royal  truly  loved  scribe  ; ” he  had  the  care  of  all  the  king’s  horses,  but  in 
the  hierarchy  he  never  rose  higher  than  the  rank  of  “divine  father,”  which 
he  had  held  at  the  beginning  of  the  reformation.  His  consort  Tey 
helped  him  much  in  his  advancement  at  court ; she  had  been  the  nurse  and 
instructress  of  the  king. 

It  was  natural  that  being  such  a favourite  with  the  monarch  he  should 
receive  public  honours,  and  that  the  gold  should  be  bestowed  upon  him. 
In  fact  he  received  this  distinction  at  least  twice  ; the  first  time  was  before 
his  marriage  with  Tey.'  In  the  representation  he  resorts  to  the  palace 
of  the  king  in  a chariot  escorted  by  numerous  fan-bearers  and  servants. 
In  the  background  of  the  picture  we  see  his  majesty  with  the  queen  on 
the  balcony  of  the  palace  ; they  are  respectfully  greeted  by  the  multitude. 
The  king,  turning  to  his  treasurer,  commands  him  to  decorate  ’Ey  ; “ Put 
gold  on  his  neck,  and  on  his  back,  and  gold  on  his  feet,  because  he  has 
heard  the  doctrine.”  The  treasurer  orders  his  servants  to  bring  jewels  of 
all  descriptions,  golden  chains,  necklets,  and  beautiful  vases  for  ointment  ; 
and  whilst  he  notifies  on  his  writing-tablet  how  much  the  royal  treasures 
are  diminished  on  that  day,  his  servants  entwine  the  throat  and  neck  of 

1 The  representations  of  the  gold-bestowal  in  the  pictures  in  the  two  tombs  of  ’Ey  ; L.D.,  iii. 
108-109  and  L-  D.,  iii.  103- 105,  referring  to  L.  D.,  iii.  97.  In  the  second  representation  the  golden 
hands  amongst  the  jewels  should  be  noticed.  See  also  Wilk.,  iii.  pi.  64  of  the  19th  Dyn. 

2 It  seems  to  me  that  there  is  no  doubt  that  Tombs  1 and  3 of  the  southern  tombs  at  Tell-el- 
Amarna  belong  to  one  and  the  same  man  ; this  is  proved  by  the  identity  of  name,  title  and  time. 
First  he  had  tomb  No.  3 prepared  for  himself,  but  after  his  marriage  he  ordered  the  construction  of 
tomb  No.  1 with  its  more  splendid  pictures,  for  himself  and  his  noble  wife.  In  addition  to  these, 
later  as  king  of  Thebes,  he  built  for  himself  a third  tomb,  in  w'hich  also  his  body  was  destined  to 
find  no  repose  ! 


1 20 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


’Ey  with  chains  of  gold.  ’Ey  raises  his  arms  rejoicing,  and  the  king  nods 
to  him  pleasantly  from  the  balcony.  On  this  day  also  the  provision 
house  of  the  king  was  spoiled  for  the  sake  of  ’Ey  ; for  the  king  ordered 
vases  of  wine  and  great  quantities  of  food  to  be  taken  to  the  house  of  his 
favourite. 

When  ’Ey  received  the  gold  for  the  second  time,  he  was  the 
husband  of  Tey,  and  we  see,  by  the  manner  in  which  it  was  awarded  him 
this  time,  that  he  was  nearly  connected  with  the  royal  house  by  his 
marriage.  It  was  now  with  royal  pomp  that  the  carriages  of  the  distin- 
guished bride  and  bridegroom  were  conducted  to  the  palace  ; companies 
of  runners  and  fan-bearers  escorted  them,  Syrian  and  Nubian  soldiers 
formed  their  bodyguard,  and  ’Ey  even  brought  ten  scribes  with  him,  to 
write  down  the  gracious  words  with  which  his  lord  would  honour  him. 


(After  L.  O.,  iii.  108.) 


Now  when  ’Ey  and  Tey  came  below  the  royal  balcony,  they  received 
an  honour  far  beyond  their  expectation  : the  king  did  not  call  upon  his 
treasurer  to  adorn  them,  but  he  himself,  his  wife,  and  his  children,  wished 
as  a personal  favour  to  bestow  the  gold  decoration  upon  these  faithful 
servants  of  his  house.  Leaning  on  the  coloured  cushions  of  the  balus- 
trade of  the  balcony,  the  monarch  threw  necklets  down  to  them  ; the 
queen,  with  the  youngest  princess  ’Anchesenpa’eten  in  her  arms,  threw 
down  chains  of  gold,  and  the  two  older  princesses,  Meryt-’eten  and 
M'aket-’eten,  shared  in  the  game  and  scattered  bracelets.  Showers  of 
jewels  were  poured  out  over  ’Ey  and  Tey  ; they  were  not  able  to  carry 
them,  still  less  to  wear  them  all.  ’Ey  wore  seven  thick  necklets  and 
nine  heavy  bracelets  ; the  servants  had  to  carry  the  rest  to  his  home. 
The  crowd  broke  out  into  shouts  of  praise  when  they  saw  the  gracious- 
ness of  the  monarch,  and  the  boys  who  had  followed  ’Ey  danced  and 
jumped  for  joy.  Proudly  the  happy  pair  returned  home,  and  the  rejoicing 
which  arose  there  when  they  came  in  sight  was  indeed  great.  Their 
servants  came  joyfully  to  meet  them  ; they  kissed  ’Ey’s  feet  with  rapture, 
and  threw  themselves  in  the  dust  before  the  gifts  of  the  king.  So  loud 
were  the  shouts  of  joy  that  they  were  heard  even  by  the  old  porters, 
who  were  squatting  before  the  back  buildings  far  away  from  the  door. 
They  asked  each  other  in  surprise  : “ What  mean  these  shouts  of  joy  ? ” 


VI 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE 


I 2 I 


And  one  of  them  said  to  his  boy  : “ Runner,  go  and  see  what  this  great 
rejoicing  means.”  “ I go,  I go,”  said  the  boy,  and  he  soon  returned  with 
the  news,  “ They  are  rejoicing  over  ’Ey,  the  divine  father,  and  over  Tey  ; 
they  have  become  creatures  of  gold  ! ” Thus  every  one  rejoiced  on  this 
“ beautiful  occasion.” 

This  custom  of  giving  presents  as  a mark  of  esteem  and  honour  was 
in  vogue  for  a long  time  : towards  the  close  of  the  20th  dynasty  we  hear 
of  a certain  Pennut,  who  ruled  over  a district  of  Nubia,  and  who  through 
the  instrumentality  of  the  governor  of  Nubia  received  two  silver  bowls 
of  precious  ointment  as  a mark  of  high  distinction.1 

Owing  to  the  power  and  to  the  gifts  bestowed  by  the  favour  of  the  king, 
riches  now  began  to  make  their  appearance  amongst  the  officials  ; and 
whoever  could  afford  it,  indulged  in  a beautiful  villa,  a fine  carriage,  a 
splendid  boat,  numerous  negroes, — as  lackeys,  servants,  and  house  officials, 
— gardens  and  cattle,  costly  food,  good  wine,  and  rich  clothing.2  The 
following  example  will  give  an  idea  of  the  riches  which  many  Egyptian 
grandees  gained  in  this  way.  It  was  an  old  custom  in  Egypt,  which  has 
lasted  down  to  modern  days,  that  on  New  Year’s  Day  “ the  house  should 
give  gifts  to  its  lord.”  3 Representations  in  the  tomb  of  a high  official  of  the 
time  of  Amenhotep  II.  (his  name  is  unfortunately  lost)  show  us  the  gifts 
he  made  to  the  king  as  a “New  Year’s  present.”4  “There  are  carriages 
of  silver  and  gold,  statues  of  ivory  and  ebony,  collarettes  of  all  kinds, 
jewels,  weapons,  and  works  of  art.”  The  statues  represent  the  king  and 
his  ancestors,  in  various  positions  and  robes,  or  in  the  form  of  sphinxes 
with  the  portrait  head  of  the  monarch.  Amongst  the  weapons  are  axes, 
daggers,  and  all  manner  of  shields,  there  are  also  coats  of  mail,  several 
hundred  leather  quivers  of  various  shapes,  680  shields  of  the  skin  of  some 
rare  animal,  30  clubs  of  ebony  overlaid  with  gold  and  silver,  140  bronze 
daggers  and  360  bronze  sickle-shaped  swords,  220  ivory  whip-handles 
inlaid  with  ebony,  etc.  In  addition,  numerous  vases  of  precious  metal 
in  curious  Asiatic  forms,  two  large  carved  pieces  of  ivory  representing 
gazelles  with  flowers  in  their  mouths,  and  finally  there  is  the  chef -d'  oeuvre 
in  the  form  of  a building  overgrown  with  fantastic  plants  bearing  gigantic 
flowers,  amongst  which  tiny  monkeys  chase  each  other.  This  was  prob- 
ably part  of  a kind  of  service  for  the  table  in  precious  metal. 

The  splendid  Theban  tombs  in  which  the  chiefs  of  the  bureaucracy 
of  the  New  Empire  rest,  give  us  also  the  same  idea  of  great  riches. 
There  were  of  course  comparatively  few  of  the  officials  who  rose  to  such 
distinction  ; the  greater  number  had  to  live  on  their  salaries,  which  con- 
sisted as  a rule  of  payment  in  kind — corn,  bread,  beer,  geese,  and  various 
other  necessaries  of  life,  which  are  “registered  in  the  name”  of  the 
respective  official.0  We  hear,  however,  of  payments  in  copper  also  ; a 
letter  from  Amenem’epet  to  his  student  Paibasa  assigns  to  the  former  50 


1 L.  U. , iii.  229,  230. 

3 Inscription  of  Siut  : A.  Z.,  1882,  164,  177. 
5 An.,  1,  11,  8-12,  5. 


2 An.,  4,  3,  2 ff. 

4 L.  D.,  iii.  63,  64. 


12  2 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Uten  {i.e.  about  4-^  Kilo)  of  copper  “for  the  needs  of  the  serfs  of  the 
temple  of  Heliopolis.”  1 

It  seems,  however,  that  the  storehouses  of  ancient  Egypt  were  scarcely 
better  supplied  than  the  coffers  of  the  modern  country  ; we  have  at  any 
rate  in  the  letters  of  that  time  many  complaints  of  default  of  payment. 
A servant  named  Amenemu’e  complains  to  the  princes  that  “ in  spite 
of  all  promises  no  provisions  are  supplied  in  the  temple  in  which  I am, 
no  bread  is  given  to  me,  no  geese  are  given  to  me.” 2 A poor  chief 
workman  only  receives  his  corn  after  he  has  “ said  daily  for  ten  days  ‘ Give 
it  I pray.’”3  The  supplies  might  indeed  often  await  the  courtesy  or 
the  convenience  of  a colleague.  “ What  shall  I say  to  thee  ? ” complains  a 
scribe  : “ give  ten  geese  to  my  people,  yet  thou  dost  not  go  to  that  white 
bird  nor  to  that  cool  tank.  Though  thou  hast  not  many  scribes,  yet  thou 
hast  very  many  servants.  Why  then  is  my  request  not  granted  ? ” 4 

To  supplement  his  salary  the  official  had  often  the  use  of  certain 
property  belonging  to  the  crown.  In  this  matter  proceedings  were  very 
lax,  and  the  widow  of  an  official  generally  continued  to  use  the  property 
after  her  husband’s  death.  In  fact,  in  one  case,  when  the  mother  of  an 
official  died,  who  had  had  the  use  of  one  of  the  royal  carriages,  the  son 
tried  to  obtain  permission  from  his  chief,  for  his  sister  who  had  been  left 
a widow  a year  before,  to  use  the  aforesaid  carriage.  Although  his 
superior  did  not  at  once  agree  to  the  request,  yet  he  did  not  directly 
refuse  him  ; he  told  him  that  if  he  would  visit  him  when  on  his  journey, 
he  would  then  see  what  he  could  do.5 

There  is  the  reverse  side  to  this  apparent  generosity  of  the  Egyptian 
government  ; it  is  evident  that  he  who  uses  state  property  is  bound  to 
pay  a certain  percentage  of  what  it  enables  him  to  earn  ; he  only  holds 
it  in  pledge. 

The  greater  part  of  the  harvests  which  the  peasant-serfs  reaped  from 
the  treasury  lands,  as  well  as  the  material  woven  or  spun  by  their  wives, 
belonged  of  course  to  the  state,  and  was  collected  mercilessly.  However 
bad  the  harvest  might  have  been,  the  scribe  came  to  the  peasants’  houses 
accompanied  by  negroes  with  sticks  ; he  demanded  the  corn,  it  was  no 
use  for  them  to  say  that  they  had  none  ; they  were  beaten  nearly  to  death 
by  the  negroes.0  Even  from  those  who  did  not  belong  to  the  class  of  serfs, 
a tax  was  as  stringently  demanded ,7  and  the  scribe  of  the  governor  even 
broke  into  the  house  of  the  woman  Takaret,  who  would  not  give  up  the 
firstling  of  her  cow.8  These  taxes  were  paid  as  unwillingly  then  as  they  are 
now,  and  many  of  the  people  thought  that  they  paid  far  more  than  was  right. 
The  appeal,  which  the  servant  Amenemu’e  made  to  the  princes  has  come 
down  to  us.  The  servant  Thothmes  of  the  temple  of  Thoth  had,  during  the 
four  years  from  the  31st  to  the  34th  year,  required  of  him  as  follows:9 

1 An.,  3,6,  11  ff.  2 Mallet,  2,  5 ft'.  3 A.  Z.,  1880,  97. 

' 4 An.,  5,  11,  2-6.  5 Tur.,  16.  Cp.  also  An.,  5,  14,  5,  “ the  ass  of  Pharaoh. ” 

(i  An.,  5,  15,  6 ff.  = Sail.,  1,  5,  n fif.  7 The  word  here  is  shed.  8 An.,  5,  14,  1 ff. 

9 Mallet,  1,  1 ff.  Certain  details  of  this  translation  are  hypothetical. 


VI 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE 


123 


Skins,  raw,  4 pieces,  worth  in  copper  8 Uten. 

Skins,  made  up  into  coats  of  mail,  1 piece,  worth  in  copper  5 Uten. 

Stick,  prop-stick,  inlaid  work,  1 piece,  worth  in  copper  4 Uten. 

Stick,  scrape  stick,  1 piece,  worth  in  copper  1 Uten. 

Paper,  1 strip. 

Paper,  1 roll. 

Hoe  1,  worth  in  copper  2 Uten. 

Corn,  2|  bushels. 

Meal,  do. 

Paper,  1 roll. 

In  the  4th  year  he  had  again  to  supply  three  strips  of  paper  and  four 
Uten  of  copper  ; on  an  average  therefore,  he  had  to  pay  five  Uten  (about 
1 Kilo)  of  copper  in  the  year — a considerable  sum  for  a servant. 
This  was  the  harder  for  him  because,  as  he  bitterly  complains,  the 
provisions  with  which  the  state  ought  to  supply  him  did  not  come  in. 
This  does  not  seem  to  have  been  at  all  unusual.  The  supplies  provided 
by  the  state  might  be  detained  on  the  way,  and  might  never  come  into 
the  hands  of  the  rightful  owner,  but  if  the  gift  were  entered  to  his  name, 
the  duty  charged  upon  it  was  nevertheless  required  from  him.  Thus,  e.g., 
a shepherd  of  the  name  of  Thothmes  lost  a donkey,  and  a certain  Pa’ere, 
who  ought  to  have  given  it  up,  had  chosen  on  some  pretext  to  keep  the 
useful  animal.  Thothmes  therefore  wrote  him  the  following  letter  of 
admonition  : 

“ Channa,  the  officer  of  the  company  Shining  as  the  Sun  stationed  in 
the  country  of  D'aper,  gave  thee  a donkey  and  told  thee  to  give  it  to 
Thothmes.  But  thou  hast  not  given  it  to  me.  Then  I seized  thee  when 
thou  wast  at  Memphis  with  Amenmose  the  chief  of  the  stable,  and  said 
to  thee:  ‘Give  it  to  me.’  Thou  didst  then  say  to  me:  ‘Take  me  not  before 
the  judgment  ; I have  the  donkey,  but  if  thou  dost  send  to  fetch  it,  I 
will  not  give  it  up.’  Thus  thou  didst  say,  and  thou  didst  swear  by  the 
life  of  thy  lord  that  thou  wouldst  cause  it  to  be  brought  to  me.  Behold, 
however,  thou  hast  not  sent  it  to  me,  and  now  they  demand  from  me  the 
work  of  the  donkey,  year  by  year,  while  it  has  been  with  thee.”  1 

The  zuork  of  the  donkey  here  spoken  of  is  the  tax  which  Thothmes 
had  to  pay  for  the  use  of  the  animal. 

To  each  of  the  great  departments  in  Egypt  belonged  artisans  and 
labourers,  who  were  divided  into  “companies.”  We  meet  with  one  of 


these  companies 


I 


on  the  domains  of  the  rich  proprietors  of  the  Old 


Empire,  and,  headed  by  their  banner-bearer,  we  see  them  reviewed  by 
the  great  lord.  The  rowers  of  each  great  ship  formed  a company , and 
even  the  genii  who  conducted  the  bark  of  the  sun  through  the  night 
bore  this  name.  The  workmen  of  the  temple  and  of  the  necropolis  were 
organised  in  the  same  way  ; the  Egyptian  official  always  thought  of  the 
lower  orders  merely  as  a crowd — one  single  workman  did  not  exist  for  him 

1 A.  Z.,  1S81,  1 18. 


124 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


any  more  than  one  single  soldier  exists  in  the  mind  of  our  chief  officers. 
They  were  only  considered  en  masse  ; the  criminal  courts  alone  had  to  do 
with  them  as  individuals.  In  speaking  of  an  individual  workman,  we 
must  always  add  the  name  of  the  chief  under  whom  he  worked  and  that 
of  the  department  to  which  he  belonged  : “ the  workman  Userchopesh, 
under  the  chief  workman  Nachtemhe't  of  the  Necropolis.”1  I scarcely 
know  whether  serfs  were  included  in  these  companies  of  workmen  ; as  a 
rule  there  seems  to  be  a distinction  between  the  workmen  and  the  bond- 
servants  of  the  temple  or  necropolis.  Artisans  were  also  sometimes  bond- 
slaves,  e.g.  the  “ metal-worker  Paicharu  of  the  western  town,  bondservant 
of  the  house  of  Ramses  III.  in  the  temple  of  Amon,  subject  to  the  first 
prophet  of  Amon  Re‘,” 2 or  the  “ artist  Setnacht  ” of  the  same  temple, 
“subject  to  the  second  prophet  of  Amon  Re‘.”  3 The  artisans,  however, 
were  not  generally  reckoned  in  the  department  of  the  companies  of  work- 
men ; the  serfs  had  to  carry  water,  catch  fish,  cut  wood,  fetch  fodder,  and 
do  similar  work.4 

At  the  head  of  each  company  of  workmen  stood  the  chief  workman, 
who  bore  the  title  of  “ Chief  of  the  Company  ” ; he  was  not  very  much  above 
his  people,  for  we  have  an  instance  of  a man,  who  in  one  place  is  designated 
simply  as  a “workman,”  and  in  another  more  precisely  as  “ chief  workman.”5 
He  was  nevertheless  proud  of  his  position  and  endeavoured,  like  the  higher 
officials,  to  bequeath  his  office  to  one  of  his  sons.6  However  unimportant 
his  position  might  be,  he  was  at  any  rate  a great  personage  to  his  work- 
men. He  carefully  kept  notes  in  a book  about  their  diligence.  On  a 
rough  tablet  of  chalk  in  the  British  Museum  7 a chief  workman  has  written 
down  the  names  of  his  forty-three  workmen  and,  by  each  name,  the  days 
of  the  month  on  which  the  man  failed  to  appear.  Many  were  of 
exemplary  industry,  and  rarely  missed  a day  throughout  the  year  ; less 
confidence  could  be  placed  in  others,  who  failed  more  than  a fortnight. 
Numberless  are  the  excuses  for  the  missing  days,  which  the  chief  work- 
man has  written  down  in  red  ink  ; the  commonest  is  of  course  ill,  in  a few 
instances  we  find  lazy  noted  down.  A few  workmen  are  pious  and  “ are 
sacrificing  to  the  god  ” ; sometimes  a slight  indisposition  of  wife  or 
daughter  is  considered  a valid  reason  for  neglect  of  work. 

We  have  some  exact  details  about  the  conduct  of  a con/pany  of 
workmen,  who  were  employed  in  the  City  of  the  Dead  at  Thebes,  in  the 
time  of  Ramses  IX.  We  do  not  know  precisely  what  their  employment 
was,  but  they  seem  to  have  been  metal-workers,  carpenters,  and  similar 
craftsmen.  Their  chief  kept  a book  s with  great  care,  and  entered  every- 
thing remarkable  that  happened  to  his  company  during  the  half-year. 

1 Abb.,  6,  5.  2 Abb.,  4,  13.  3 Amh.,  4,  4. 

4 Cp.  the  interesting  list  of  the  serfs  of  the  Necropolis  : Tur.  35-38. 

5 Abb.,  5,  13  and  6,  5. 

6 In  the  Pap.  Salt  we  read  of  a son  of  a chief  workman  who  succeeded  his  father. 

7 Inscriptions  in  the  hieratic  character,  T.  20,  21. 

8 Turin  papyrus  edited  by  Lieblein.  Two  hieratic  papyri  in  the  museum  of  Turin,  ib.  the 
translation  of  Chabas. 


VI 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE 


125 


He  also  noted  each  day  whether  the  men  had  “worked”  or  had  been 
“idle.”  For  two  full  months  (from  the  5th  of  Phamenoth  to  the  1 ith  of 
Pachons)  no  work  was  required,  though  by  permission  the  time  was 
registered  as  working  days  ; during  the  next  two  months  also  half  the 
time  was  kept  as  a festival.  Nevertheless  the  workmen  did  not  suffer 
owing  to  lack  of  work,  they  received  their  rations  each  day  whether  they 
worked  or  not.  Four  times  in  the  month  they  seem  to  have  received 
from  different  officials  a larger  allowance  (perhaps  2 00-300  kgrm.)  of  fish, 
which  appears  to  have  formed  their  chief  food.  Each  month  they  also 
received  a portion  of  some  pulse  vegetable,  and  a number  of  jugs,  which 
may  have  contained  oil  and  beer,  also  some  fuel  and  some  corn.  With 
regard  however  to  the  latter  there  is  a story  to  tell.  It  is  one  of  the 
acknowledged  characteristics  of  modern  Egypt  that  payments  can  never 
be  made  without  delays,  so  also  in  old  Egypt  the  same  routine  seems  to 
have  been  followed  with  respect  to  the  payments  in  kind.  The  letters 
and  the  documents  of  the  officials  of  the  New  Empire  are  full  of  com- 
plaints, and  if  geese  and  bread  were  only  given  out  to  the  scribes  after 
many  complaints  and  appeals,  we  may  be  sure  that  still  less  consideration 
was  shown  to  the  workmen.  The  supply  of  corn  was  due  to  our  com- 
pany on  the  28th  of  each  month  ; in  the  month  of  Phamenoth  it  was 
delivered  one  day  late,  in  Pharmuthi  it  was  not  delivered  at  all,  and  the 
workmen  therefore  went  on  strike,  or,  as  the  Egyptians  expressed  it, 
“stayed  in  their  homes.”  On  the  28th  of  Pachons  the  corn  was  paid  in 
full,  but  on  the  28th  of  Payni  no  corn  was  forthcoming  and  only  100 
pieces  of  wood  were  supplied.  The  workmen  then  lost  patience,  they 
“ set  to  work,”  and  went  in  a body  to  Thebes.  On  the  following  day 
they  appeared  before  “ the  great  princes  ” and  “ the  chief  prophets  of 
Amon,”  and  made  their  complaint.  The  result  was  that  on  the  30th  the 
great  princes  ordered  the  scribe  Chaemuese  to  appear  before  them,  and 
said  to  him  : “ Here  is  the  corn  belonging  to  the  government,  give  out  of 
it  the  corn-rations  to  the  people  of  the  necropolis.”  Thus  the  evil  was 
remedied,  and  at  the  end  of  the  month  the  journal  of  the  workman’s 
company  contains  this  notice  : “ We  received  to-day  our  corn-rations  ; we 
gave  two  boxes  and  a writing-tablet  to  the  fan-bearer.”  It  is  easy  to 
understand  the  meaning  of  the  last  sentence  ; the  boxes  and  the  writing- 
tablet  were  given  as  a present  to  an  attendant  of  the  governor,  who 
persuaded  his  master  to  attend  to  the  claims  of  the  workmen. 

The  condition  of  the  workmen  of  the  necropolis  was  just  as  deplorable 
in  the  29th  year  of  Ramses  IIP;  they  were  almost  always  obliged  to 
enforce  the  payment  of  every  supply  of  the  food  owing  to  them  by  a 
strike  of  work.  On  these  occasions  they  left  the  City  of  the  Dead  with 
their  wives  and  children,  and  threatened  never  to  return  unless  their 
demands  were  granted.  Documents  have  come  down  to  us  showing  that 
at  this  time  the  sad  state  of  things  went  on  for  half  a year.  The  month 
Tybi  passed  without  the  people  receiving  their  supplies  ; they  seem  to 
have  been  accustomed  to  such  treatment,  for  they  waited  full  nine  days 


126 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


before  again  pushing  affairs  to  extremities.  They  then  lost  patience,  and 
on  the  ioth  of  Mechir  “they  crossed  the  five  walls  of  the  necropolis  and 
said  : ‘ We  have  been  starving  for  1 8 days  : ’ they  placed  themselves 
behind  the  temple  of  Thothmes  III.”  In  vain  the  scribes  of  the  necro- 
polis and  the  two  chiefs  of  the  workmen  tried  to  entice  them  back  by 
“ great  oaths,”  the  workmen  were  wise  and  remained  outside.  The  next 
day  they  proceeded  further,  even  as  far  as  the  gate  at  the  southern  corner 
of  the  temple  of  Ramses  II.  ; on  the  third  day  they  even  penetrated  into 
the  building.  The  affair  assumed  a threatening  aspect,  and  on  that  day 
two  officers  of  the  police  were  sent  to  the  place.  The  priests  also  tried 
to  pacify  the  workmen,  but  their  answer  was  : “ We  have  been  driven  here 
by  hunger  and  thirst;  we  have  no  clothes,  we  have  no  oil,  we  have  no  food. 
Write  to  our  lord  the  Pharaoh  on  the  subject,  and  write  to  the  governor 
who  is  over  us,  that  they  may  give  us  something  for  our  sustenance.” 
Their  efforts  were  successful  : “ on  that  day  they  received  the  provision  for 
the  month  Tybi.”  On  the  13th  of  Mechir  they  went  back  into  the  necro- 
polis with  their  wives  and  children.  Peace  was  re-established,1  but  did 
not  last  long  ; in  fact  only  a month.  Again  in  Phamenoth  the  workmen 
crossed  the  wall  of  the  City  of  the  Dead,  and  driven  by  hunger  they 
approached  the  gate  of  the  town.  Here  the  governor  treated  with  them 
in  person  ; he  asked  them  (if  I understand  rightly)  what  he  could  give 
them  when  the  storehouses  were  empty;  at  the  same  time  he  ordered  half 
at  least  of  the  rations  that  were  overdue  to  be  paid  down  to  them.2 

In  the  month  of  Pharmuthi  the  supplies  seem  to  have  been  duly 
given  out,  for  our  documents  mention  no  revolt ; but  in  Pachon  the 
workmen  suffered  again  from  want.  On  the  second  day  of  the  latter 
month  two  bags  of  spelt  were  remitted  as  the  supply  for  the  whole  month ; 
we  cannot  be  surprised  at  their  resenting  this  reduction  in  their  payment, 
and  at  their  resolution  to  go  down  themselves  to  the  corn  warehouse  in 
the  harbour.  They  only  got  as  far  as  the  first  wall  of  the  City  of  the 
Dead  ; there  the  scribe  Amennachtu  assured  them  he  would  give  them 
the  rest  of  the  spelt  if  they  remained  quiet  ; they  were  credulous  enough 
to  return.  Naturally  they  did  not  receive  their  corn  now  any  more  than 
before,  and  they  were  obliged  again  to  “ cross  the  walls,”  after  which  the 
“princes  of  the  town”  interfered,  and  on  the  13th  of  the  month  ordered 
fifty  sacks  of  spelt  to  be  given  to  them.11 

We  see  that  in  Egypt,  to  a certain  extent,  these  workmen  played  the 
part  of  our  proletariat.  We  must  not,  however,  imagine  that  their  life 
was  a very  wretched  one.  On  the  contrary,  the  workman  had  his  wife, 
or  more  frequently  a friend  who  lived  with  him  as  his  wife  ; he  had  his 
own  house,  sometimes  indeed  situated  in  the  barren  necropolis,  and  often 
he  even  had  his  own  tomb.  He  was  educated  to  a certain  degree,  as  a 
rule  he  could  read  and  write,  and  when  speaking  to  his  superiors,  he 
frequently  expressed  himself  in  high-flown  poetic  language.4  At  the  same 

1 Tur.,  42,  43,  2-5,  48,  17-23.  2 Tur.,  43,  6 fif.,  44,  45,  1-5. 

3 Tur.,  45,  6 ff.  46.  4 Abb.,  6,  5 ff. 


VI 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE 


127 


time  we  cannot  deny  that  his  written  attempts  are  badly  expressed  and 
present  an  inextricable  confusion  of  sentences. 

The  morality  of  the  workmen  has  little  to  rest  upon,  if  we  may 
believe  the  long  accusations  which  they  prefer  against  each  other.  The 
chief  workman  Paneb'e,  under  King  Sety  II.,  must  have  been  exception- 
all)’  bad.1  He  stole  everything  that  came  in  his  way  : the  wine  for  the 
libations,  a strap  from  a carriage,  and  a valuable  block  of  stone;  the  latter 
was  found  in  his  house,  although  he  had  sworn  that  he  had  not  got  it. 
Once  he  stole  a tool  for  breaking  stones,  and  when,  after  searching  for  it 
vainly  for  two  months,  “ they  said  to  him  : ‘ It  is  not  there,’  he  brought  it 
back  and  hid  it  behind  a great  stone.  . . . When  he  stationed  men  to 
cut  stones  on  the  roof  of  the  building  of  King  Sety  II.,  they  stole  some 
stone  every  day  for  his  tomb,  and  he  placed  four  pillars  of  this  stone  in 
his  tomb.”  In  other  ways  also  he  provided  cheaply  for  the  equipment  of 
his  tomb,  and  for  this  object  he  stole  “two  great  books”  from  a certain 
Paherbeku,  doubtless  containing  chapters  from  the  Book  of  the  Dead. 
He  was  not  ashamed  even  to  clear  out  the  tomb  of  one  of  his  subordi- 
nates. “ He  went  down  into  the  tomb  of  the  workman  Nachtmin,  and 
stole  the  couch  on  which  he  lay.  He  also  took  the  various  objects, 
which  are  usually  provided  for  the  deceased,  and  stole  them.”  Even  the 
tools  which  he  used  for  the  work  of  his  tomb  were  royal  property. 

He  continually  turned  his  workmen  to  account  in  various  ways  for 
private  purposes  : once  he  lent  them  to  an  official  of  the  temple  of  Amon, 
who  was  in  need  of  field  labourers  ; he  commissioned  a certain  Nebnofr 
to  feed  his  oxen  morning  and  evening,  and  he  made  the  wives  of  the 
workmen  weave  for  him.  He  was  also  charged  with  extortions  of  all 
kinds,  especially  from  the  wives  and  daughters  of  his  workmen.  He  was 
guilty  also  of  cruelty  : once  he  had  some  men  soundly  bastinadoed  in  the 
night  ; he  then  took  refuge  on  the  top  of  a wall,  and  threw  bricks  at  them. 

The  worst  of  all  was  his  conduct  to  the  family  of  the  chief  workman 
Nebnofr.  While  the  latter  was  alive,  he  seems  to  have  lived  in  enmity  with 
him,  and  after  his  death,  he  transferred  his  hatred  to  the  two  sons,  especially 
to  Neferhotep,  who  succeeded  his  father  in  his  office.  He  even  made  an 
attempt  on  his  life.  “ It  came  to  pass  that  he  ran  after  the  chief  workman 
Neferhotep  . . . the  doors  were  shut  against  him,  but  he  took  up  a stone 
and  broke  open  the  door,  and  they  caused  people  to  guard  Neferhotep, 
for  Paneb’e  had  said  that  he  would  in  truth  kill  him  in  the  night ; in  that 
night  he  had  nine  people  flogged,  and  the  chief  workman  Neferhotep 
reported  it  to  the  governor  Amenmose  and  he  punished  him.”  Paneb’e, 
however,  extricated  himself  from  this  affair,  and  finally  he  seems  to  have 
made  away  with  Neferhotep  ; notwithstanding  this  he  appears  to  have 
lived  on  in  peace,  because,  if  we  may  believe  the  accusations  against 
him,  he  killed  those  who  could  have  borne  witness  against  him. 

1 See  the  complaint  against  him  in  the  Salt  Pap.  Another  similar  complaint  of  one  workman 
against  another,  Turin  Pap.  47/48.  I have  tried  in  my  translation  to  imitate  the  awkward  style 
which  is  so  characteristic  of  this  text. 


128 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


We  find,  as  we  have  said  above,  that  as  a rule  these  free  or  semi-free 
workmen  always  formed  companies , while  the  bondservants  belonging 
respectively  to  the  temple  or  to  the  necropolis  1 and  the  peasant-serfs  on 
the  estates  were  really  organised  in  a military  manner,  and  were  reckoned 
as  part  of  the  army.2  They  had  their  officers  of  different  grades,  some 
of  whom  were  chosen  from  their  own  ranks  ; they  were  led  by  standard- 
bearers,  who  were  certainly  chosen  out  of  the  soldiers.3  We  cannot  doubt 
that  these  men  were  slaves  in  our  sense  of  the  word,  and  that  they  formed 
part  of  the  property  of  the  crown  or  of  the  temple  as  much  as  the  land 
or  the  cattle.  Their  names  were  entered  in  a register  by  the  officials  of 
the  house  of  silver,  who  travelled  about  for  this  purpose  accompanied  by 
an  officer  and  his  soldiers,4  who  branded  them  with  the  seal  of  the 
department.5  These  slaves  were  despised  by  the  scribes,  who  said  they 
were  without  heart , i.e.  without  understanding,  and  that  therefore  they 
had  to  be  driven  with  a stick  like  cattle.  The  following  verses  refer  to 
the  slaves  : 

“ The  poor  child  is  only  brought  up 
That  he  may  be  torn  from  his  mother’s  arms  ; 

As  soon  as  he  comes  to  man’s  estate 

His  bones  are  beaten  like  those  of  a donkey  ; 

He  is  driven,  he  has  indeed  no  heart  in  his  body.” 

The  scribe  has  to  provide  for  these  slaves  : 

“ He  takes  the  lists  of  them  in  his  hand, 

He  makes  the  oldest  amongst  them  the  officer, 

The  youngest  of  them  he  makes  the  bugler.”6 

Alany  of  these  slaves  were  prisoners  of  war  ; they  were  handed  over 
from  the  booty,  and  sent  wherever  they  were  wanted.  They  were  passed 
on  from  one  department  to  another,  just  as  if  they  had  been  oxen  or 
donkeys,  and  occasionally  the  same  fate  befell  them  as  sometimes  befalls 
oxen  or  donkeys  as  they  pass  through  the  hands  of  different  officials  ; 
they  disappeared  and  left  no  trace.  There  lived,  for  instance,  a prophet 
of  the  temple  of  Thoth  named  Ramses,  to  whom  the  crown  had  given  a 
Syrian  slave  to  use  as  a labourer,  yet  the  latter  never  came  into  his 
possession  ; he  was  lost  on  the  way.  Ramses  then  besought  his  son  to 
take  up  the  matter,  and  to  find  out  where  the  slave  was.  Bekenamun, 
his  son,  the  libation  scribe,  exerted  himself  so  energetically  that  he  was 

1 Smdt  of  the  temple  : An.,  4,  4,  9 and  many  other  examples  ; of  the  Necropolis  : Abb.,  5,  11  ; 
Tur.,  37,  2. 

- Brugsch  shows,  Wb.  Suppl.  p.v.,  that  ’ eu‘ai t means  the  peasantry.  A it' an  of  the  latter  : 
P.j.T. , 6,  4.  A “ standard-bearer  ” of  the  latter  P.j.T.,  2,  4.  “ Superintendent  of  the  peasantry  ” : 
An.,  3,  5,  5 Rs.  and  often  as  officers  in  the  wars. 

3 Similar  officers  of  the  serfs  : Brugsch,  Wb.  Suppl.,  p.  579.  An.,  5,  10,  5 f.  also  standard- 
bearers  : Abb.  7,  5. 

4 An.,  4,  4,  8 ff.  An.,  5,  10,  5 f.  An.,  5,  7,  6.  An.,  6,  2,  II,  3,  5. 

5 An.,  5,  7,  6 ; Harr.,  I.  77,  5,  as  to  the  custom  of  branding,  cp.  An.,  5,  10,  1 ; and  what  Brugsch 
alleges  A.  Z.,  1S76,  p.  35  ff. 

6 Both  of  these  passages  are  from  An.,  5,  10,  3 ff.  = Sail.  1,  3,  5 ff. 


VI 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE 


129 


able  at  any  rate  to  send  his  father  the  following  rather  unsatisfactory 
answer  : 

“ I have  made  inquiries  about  the  Syrian,  who  belonged  to  the  temple 
of  Thoth,  and  about  whom  thou  didst  write  to  me.  I have  ascertained 
that  he  was  appointed  field-labourer  to  the  temple  of  Thoth,  and  placed 
under  thee  in  the  third  year  on  the  10th  of  Payni.  He  belonged  to  the 
galley  slaves  brought  over  by  the  commandant  of  the  fortress.  His 
Syrian  name  is  Naqatey,  he  is  the  son  of  Sarurat'a,  and  his  mother’s  name 
is  Qede  ; he  comes  from  the  country  of  Artu  and  was  galley  slave  on 
the  ship  of  Kenra,  the  captain  of  the  galley.  His  guard  told  me  that 
Cha'em’epet,  officer  of  the  royal  peasantry,  took  charge  of  him,  in  order  to 
send  him  on.  I hastened  to  Cha'em’epet,  the  officer  of  the  royal  serfs, 
but  he  pretended  to  be  deaf,  and  said  to  me  : The  governor  Meryti-Sechemt 
took  charge  of  him  to  send  him  on.  I therefore  hastened  to  the  governor 
Meryti-Sechemt,  and  he  with  his  scribes  pretended  to  be  deaf,  and  said  : 
We  have  not  seen  him  ! I then  went  to  the  officer  at  Chmunu  and  said 
to  him  : I pray  thee  to  order  that  the  Syrian  field-labourer,  whom  thou 
didst  receive  for  the  temple  of  Thoth,  should  be  sent  to  the  prophet. 
I shall  sue  him  before  the  high  court  of  law.”  1 

Let  us  in  conclusion  briefly  state  what  we  know  or  surmise  about  the 
social  conditions  under  the  New  Empire.  The  landed  property  was 
partly  in  the  hands  of  the  state,  partly  in  those  of  the  priesthood  ; it  was 
tilled  by  peasant-serfs  ; there  seem  to  have  been  no  private  estates  belong- 
ing to  the  nobility,  at  any  rate  not  under  the  1 9th  dynasty.  The  lower 
orders  consisted  mostly  of  serfs  and  foreign  slaves,  the  higher  of  officials 
in  the  service  of  the  state  or  of  the  temples.  Between  these  two  extremes 
there  was  certainly  a middle  class  of  artisans  and  shopmen,  but  they  came 
little  to  the  fore.  It  is  only  owing  to  the  fact  that  many  stelae  exist,  on 
which  the  names  of  the  deceased  are  inscribed  without  any  titles,  that  we 
know  there  must  have  been  well-to-do  people,  who  were  not  state  officials. 
These  may  have  been  the  “ people  of  the  country,” 2 whose  wives  are 
entitled  the  “ dwellers  in  the  town.”3 

We  cannot  now  determine  whether  they,  as  well  as  the  priests,  officials, 
and  soldiers,  played  an  important  part  in  the  development  of  their 
country.  One  fact  however  is  clear  to  our  eyes  : the  bad  administration, 
which  still  distinguishes  modern  Egypt,  the  extravagance  of  the  upper 
classes,  the  extreme  poverty  of  the  lower,  all  this  is  of  ancient  date.  The 
same  king  Ramses  III.  who  gave  185,000  sacks  of  corn  yearly  to  the 
temples,4  was  often  unable  to  hand  over  fifty  sacks  a month  to  his  starving 
workmen  in  the  necropolis.  The  stereotyped  appeals  : “ We  hunger,  no 
provision  is  given  to  us,” 0 form  a sad  commentary  to  the  vainglorious 
phraseology  of  the  inscriptions,  which  speak  of  the  might  and  of  the 
riches  of  the  king. 

1 Bologna  1086,  1.  9 ff.  ; many  details  uncertain. 

2 Abb.,  4,  1.  2 lb.  and  many  examples. 

4 This  calculation  is  taken  from  Harr.,  I.  5 Tur.,  76,  6. 

K 


TOMBS  IN  THE  NECROPOLIS,  FROM  A STELE  AT  GIZEH. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  POLICE  AND  THE  COURTS  OF  JUSTICE 

The  documents  of  the  great  lawsuit  under  King  Ramses  IX.  (about 
i i OO  B.C.),  against  the  bands  of  thieves  in  the  Theban  city  of  the  dead, 
give  us  a distinct  picture  of  the  work  of  the  government  police  under 
the  20th  dynasty,  of  how  crime  was  tracked,  and  how  trials  of  suspected 
persons  were  conducted.1  This  cause  celebre  (for  such  it  certainly  was) 
has  a special  attraction  for  us,  from  the  fact  that  it  throws  a sidelight 
upon  the  many  disagreements  and  intrigues  that  went  on  in  the  heart  of 
the  government  of  the  capital ; the  acts  of  this  lawsuit  form  therefore  a 
good  sequel  to  the  description  of  the  Egyptian  bureaucracy,  which  I have 
drawn  up  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

The  Governor  was,  as  I remarked  above,  at  the  head  of  the  government 
in  the  capital  ; at  the  same  time  it  was  of  course  impossible  that  he  should 
concern  himself  about  the  various  details.  For  each  half  of  the  town,  he 
had  therefore  as  his  subordinate  a prince , who  carried  on  the  duties  of  the 
old  Theban  nomarch.  The  eastern  part,  the  city  proper,  was  under  the 
“ prince  of  the  town,”  the  western  part,  the  city  of  the  dead,  under  the 
“ prince  of  the  west,”  or  the  “ chief  of  the  police  of  the  necropolis.” 

At  the  time  of  our  lawsuit  the  higher  office  was  held  by  a certain 
Paser,  the  lower  by  a certain  PasePa,  and  as  is  not  unusual  even  now 
with  colleagues  at  the  head  of  two  adjacent  departments,  they  lived  in 
open  enmity  with  each  other.  Their  enmity  was  no  secret  ; and  if  a 
discontented  subordinate  of  Paser‘a  thought  he  observed  anything  wrong 
in  the  city  of  the  dead,  he  went  to  Paser  and  related  the  tittle-tattle  to 
him,  as  a contribution  to  the  materials  which  he  was  collecting  against 
his  colleague.2  When  therefore  in  the  1 6th  year  important  thefts  were 
perpetrated  in  the  necropolis,  it  was  not  only  Paser'a,  the  ruler  of  the 
city  of  the  dead,  who,  as  in  duty  bound,  gave  information  to  the  governor, 

1 For  the  following,  cp.  Pap.  Abbott,  Pap.  Amherst,  also  my  work  upon  these  documents": 

A.  Z.  1S79,  Si  ff.  148  ff.  2 Abb.  5,  16.  6,  21. 


CHAP.  VII 


THE  POLICE  AND  THE  COURTS  OF  JUSTICE 


131 


but  Paser  also,  the  prince  of  the  town,  did  not  let  slip  this  opportunity  of 
denouncing  his  colleague  to  the  chiefs  in  council.  It  is  characteristic  of 
the  sort  of  evidence  presented  by  Paser  that  precisely  that  royal  tomb 
which  he  declared  to  have  been  robbed  was  found  at  the  trial  to  be 
uninjured  : evidently  his  accusation  rested  on  mere  hearsay. 

The  court  of  justice,  before  which  both  princes  had  to  give  their 
evidence,  consisted  of  “ Cha'emuese,  the  superintendent  of  the  town  and 
governor,”  assisted  by  two  other  high  officials,  the  scribe  and  the  speaker 
of  Pharaoh,  or  according  to  their  full  titles  : “ the  royal  vassal  Nesamun, 
scribe  of  Pharaoh  and  chief  of  the  property  of  the  high-priestess  of  Amon 
Re‘,  king  of  the  gods;”  and  “the  royal  vassal  Neferkere‘-em-per-Amun, 
the  speaker  of  Pharaoh.” 

When  these  three  great  princes  heard  of  the  attempt  on  the  great  noble 
necropolis , they  sent  out  a commission  of  inquiry  on  the  I 8th  Athyr  to 
investigate  the  matter  on  the  spot  ; for  this  commission  they  appointed 
not  only  the  prince  of  the  necropolis  himself  and  two  of  his  police 
officers,  but  also  a scribe  of  the  governors,  a scribe  belonging  to  the 
treasury  department,  two  high  priests,  and  other  confidential  persons,  who 
were  assisted  in  their  difficult  task  by  the  police.  As  inspectors  1 these 
officials  went  through  the  desert  valleys  of  the  city  of  the  dead  carefully 
examining  each  tomb  which  was  suspected.  The  result  is  related  in  the 
following  document  which  enumerates  the  “ pyramids  and  mummy-pits 
examined  on  this  day  by  the  inspectors.” 

“ (1)  The  eternal  horizon  of  King  Amenhotep  I.,  having  a depth  of 
130  yards,  lying  to  the  north  of  the  garden-temple  of  Amenhotep,  which 
was  supposed  to  have  been  broken  into  by  thieves,  according  to  the 
evidence  given  by  Paser  to  the  governor  Cha'emuese,  the  town-super- 
intendent ; to  the  royal  vassal  Nesamun,  the  scribe  of  Pharaoh,  the  chief 
of  the  property  of  the  high-priestess  of  Amon  Re‘,  king  of  the  gods  ; and 
to  the  royal  vassal  Neferke  Re'-em-per-Amun,  the  speaker  to  Pharaoh ; 
the  great  princes — 

“ Examined  this  day  : 

“It  was  found  uninjured  by  the  inspectors. 

“ (2)  The  pyramid  of  the  king  : the  son  of  Re‘  ’Entef  the  great,  lying 
to  the  north  of  the  court  of  the  temple  of  Amenhotep,  the  pyramid  itself 
being  in  ruins,  and  a stele  having  been  placed  in  front  of  it,  on  which  is 
represented  the  king  with  his  dog  Behka  at  his  feet — 

“ Examined  this  day  : 

“ It  was  found  uninjured. 

“(3)  The  pyramid  of  King  ’Entef.  It  was  found  that  a boring  had 
been  made  by  the  thieves,  they  had  made  a hole  of  2^-  yards  at  the  base  (?) 
and  had  thus  made  their  way  out  of  the  outer  hall  of  the  ruined  tomb  of 
’Euray,  superintendent  of  the  sacrifices  to  Amon  : 


1 The 


(d  W - , 


0? 


I 

I I 


may  be  officers  of  control  ; An.  4,  7,  7,  they  receive  the  wine 


supplied  by  the  vineyards  of  the  temple  of  Amon.  This  is  also  the  opinion  of  Chabas. 


1 32 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


“It  was  uninjured,  the  thieves  had  not  been  able  to  penetrate  into  the 
interior. 

“ (4)  The  pyramid  of  the  king  ’Entef  the  great.  It  was  found  that  a 
boring  had  been  made  by  the  thieves  at  the  place  where  the  stele  stands — 

“ Examined  this  day  : 

“It  was  found  uninjured,  the  thieves  had  not  been  able  to  effect  an 
entrance. 

“ (5)  The  pyramid  of  the  king  Sebekemsaf.  It  was  found  that  the 
thieves  had  bored  a mine  and  penetrated  into  the  mummy  chamber  ; they 
had  made  their  way  out  of  the  outer  hall  of  the  tomb  of  Nebamun,  the 
superintendent  of  food  under  Thothmes  III.  It  was  found  that  the  king’s 
burial-place  had  been  robbed  of  the  monarch;  in  the  place  also  where  the 
royal  consort  Nubch'as  was  buried,  the  thieves  had  laid  hands  on  her. 

“ The  governor  and  the  prince-vassals  ordered  a thorough  examination 
to  be  made,  and  it  was  proved  exactly  by  what  means  the  thieves  had 
laid  hands  on  this  king  and  on  his  royal  consort.” 

This  was,  however,  the  only  pyramid  that  had  really  been  broken 
into  ; all  the  other  royal  tombs  were  uninjured,  and  the  scribe  was  able 
with  pride  to  draw  up  this  sum  total  at  the  bottom  of  the  deed  : 

“ Pyramids  of  the  royal  ancestors,  examined  this  day  by  the  inspectors  : 
Found  uninjured,  Pyramids  . . . .9 

Found  broken  into,  Pyramids  1 

Total  . . . .10” 

Matters  had  gone  worse  with  the  tombs  of  private  individuals  : of  the 
four  tombs  of  the  distinguished  “ singers  of  the  high-priestess  of  Amon 
Re‘  king  of  the  gods,”  two  had  been  broken  into,  and  of  the  other  private 
tombs  we  read — “ It  was  found  that  they  had  all  been  broken  into  by  the 
thieves,  they  had  torn  the  lords  (i.e.  the  bodies)  out  of  their  coffins  and 
out  of  their  bandages,  they  had  thrown  them  on  the  ground,  they  had 
stolen  the  household  stuff  which  had  been  buried  with  them,  together  with 
the  gold,  silver,  and  jewels  found  in  their  bandages.”  These  were  how- 
ever only  private  tombs  ; it  was  a great  comfort  that  the  royal  tombs  were 
uninjured.  The  commission  sent  in  their  report  at  once  to  the  great 
princes.  At  the  same  time  the  prince  of  the  necropolis  gave  in  to  the 
prince-vassals  the  names  of  the  supposed  thieves,  who  were  immediately 
taken  into  custody.  The  lawsuit  against  them  did  not  give  much  trouble. 

There  were  eight  thieves  who  had  violated  the  tomb  of  King 
Sebekemsaf,  most  of  them  were  servants  in  the  temple  of  Amon. 
Amongst  them  were  masons,  and  apparently  these  had  forced  the 
subterranean  way  into  the  interior  of  the  tomb.  They  “ were  examined,” 
that  is  “ they  were  beaten  with  sticks  both  on  their  hands  and  feet  ; ” 
under  the  influence  of  this  cruel  bastinado  they  confessed  that  they  had 
made  their  way  into  the  pyramid  and  had  found  the  bodies  of  the  king 
and  queen  there.  They  said  : “We  then  opened  the  coffins  and  bandages 


VII 


THE  POLICE  AND  THE  COURTS  OF  JUSTICE 


133 


in  which  they  lay.  We  found  the  noble  mummy  of  the  king  . . . with 
a long  chain  of  golden  amulets  and  ornaments  round  the  neck  ; the  head 
was  covered  with  gold.  The  noble  mummy  of  this  king  was  entirely 
overlaid  with  gold,  and  his  (coffin)  was  covered  both  inside  and  out  with 
gold,  and  adorned  with  precious  jewels.  We  tore  off  the  gold,  which  we 
found  on  the  noble  mummy  of  this  god,  as  well  as  the  amulets  and 
ornaments  from  round  the  neck,  and  the  bandages  in  which  the  mummy 
was  wrapped.  We  found  the  royal  consort  equipped  in  like  manner,  and 
we  tore  off  all  that  we  found  upon  her.  We  burnt  her  bandages,  and  we 
also  stole  the  household  goods  which  we  found  with  them,  and  the  gold 
and  silver  vessels.  We  then  divided  all  between  us  ; we  divided  into  eight 
parts  the  gold  which  we  found  with  this  god,  the  mummies,  the  amulets, 
the  ornaments,  and  the  bandages.” 

This  public  confession  was  not  enough  ; the  thieves  were  also  obliged 
to  identify  the  scene  of  their  crime — there  seems  to  have  been  a law  to 
this  effect.  The  governor  and  the  royal  vassal  Nesamun  commanded  the 
criminals  to  be  taken  in  their  presence,  on  the  19th  of  Athyr,  to  the 
necropolis  where  they  identified  the  pyramid  of  Sebekemsaf  as  that  to 
which  their  confession  referred.  Their  guilt  being  finally  established,  the 
great  princes  had  now  done  all  they  could  in  the  case,  for  the  sentence 
of  punishment  had  to  be  pronounced  by  the  Pharaoh  himself,  to  whom 
they,  together  with  the  princes  of  the  town,  at  once  sent  the  official  report 
of  the  examination.  Meanwhile  the  thieves  were  given  over  to  the  high 
priest  of  Amon,  to  be  confined  in  the  prison  of  the  temple  “ with  their 
fellow  thieves.” 

The  examination  of  the  city  of  tombs  was  however  not  yet  concluded  ; 
fresh  suspicions  arose  which  had  to  be  followed  up.  A man  of  bad 
repute,  who  three  years  before  had  been  examined  by  a predecessor  of  the 
present  governor,  had  lately  confessed  at  an  examination  that  he  had  been 
into  the  tomb  of  Ese,  the  wife  of  Ramses  II.  and  had  stolen  something 
out  of  it.  This  was  the  “ metal-worker  Peicharu,  son  of  Charuy  and  of 
Mytshere,  of  the  west  side  of  the  town,  bondservant  of  the  temple  of 
Ramses  III.  under  Amenhotep,  the  first  prophet  of  Amon  Re‘  king  of  the 
gods.”  He  belonged  to  the  dregs  of  the  populace,  as  is  shown  by  the 
name  of  his  mother,  which  signifies  little  cat.  Suspicion  was  thus  aroused 
that  the  part  of  the  necropolis  in  which  the  nearest  relatives  of  the  king 
were  buried  (called  the  place  of  beauties ) had  been  visited  by  the  thieves, 
and  the  great  princes  resolved  to  sift  the  matter  thoroughly.  They 
therefore  caused  the  metal-worker  to  be  blindfolded  and  carried  in  their 
presence  to  the  necropolis.  “ When  they  arrived  there,  they  unbandaged 
his  eyes,  and  the  princes  said  to  him  : ‘ Go  before  us  to  the  grave  out  of 
which,  as  thou  dost  say,  thou  hast  stolen  something.’  The  metal-worker 
went  to  one  of  the  graves  of  the  children  of  the  great  god  King  Ramses 
II.,  which  stood  open,  and  in  which  no  one  had  ever  been  buried,  and  to 
the  house  of  the  workman  Amenem’ent,  son  of  Huy  of  the  necropolis,  and 
he  said  : ‘ Behold,  these  are  the  places  in  which  I have  been.’  Then  the 


134 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


princes  ordered  him  to  be  thoroughly  examined  (i.e.  bastinaded)  in  the 
great  valley,  and  they  found  nevertheless  that  he  knew  of  no  other  place 
besides  these  two  places  which  he  had  pointed  out.  He  swore  that  they 
might  cut  off  his  nose  and  his  cars,  or  flay  him  alive,  but  that  he  knew  of 
no  other  place  than  this  open  tomb  and  this  house,  which  he  had  shown 
to  them. 

“ The  princes  examined  the  tombs  and  the  large  chambers  in  the 
place  of  the  beauties  in  which  the  beautiful  royal  children,  the  royal 
consorts,  the  royal  mothers  and  fathers  of  the  mothers  of  the  Pharaoh 
rest.  They  were  found  uninjured.”  The  joy  of  the  princes  was  great,  for 
the  matter  was  not  nearly  as  bad  as  had  been  represented.  In  order  to 
put  an  end  to  all  the  reports  which  were  current  in  the  town  on  the 
subject,  they  at  once  sent  a “ great  embassy  to  the  town  consisting  of  the 
inspectors,  the  chiefs  of  the  workmen  of  the  necropolis,  the  officers  of  the 
police,  the  police,  and  all  the  bondservants  of  the  necropolis  of  western 
Thebes.” 

We  can  well  imagine  that  this  embassy  was  of  a rather  tumultuous 
character,  and  that  those  who  believed  in  the  maladministration  of  the 
necropolis  were  little  pleased  at  this  demonstration.  One  high  official 
was  especially  vexed  with  it,  Paser,  the  chief  of  the  government  of 
the  town  proper — “ the  prince  of  the  town  ” whose  enmity  towards 
Paser'a,  the  prince  of  the  necropolis,  has  been  mentioned  above.  Part 
of  the  information  which  had  led  to  the  examination  of  the  necropolis 
had  been  sent  directly  by  him  ; he  had  maintained  officially  that  the  tomb 
of  Amenhotep  I.  had  been  robbed.  The  contrary  was  now  established, 
and  with  the  exception  of  the  one  pyramid  of  Sebekemsaf,  all  the  royal 
tombs  were  found  to  be  in  good  order.  He  believed  nevertheless  that  he 
had  not  lightly  launched  his  accusations  against  the  government  of  the 
city  of  the  dead,  but.  had  followed  trustworthy  information,  and  even  now 
he  had  two  discontented  scribes  of  the  necropolis  who  were  furnishing  him 
with  more  material  concerning  the  abuses  in  the  administration  there. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  under  these  circumstances  Paser  felt  a suspicion 
which  we  ourselves  can  scarcely  suppress  even  now  when  we  read  through 
these  old  deeds.  Had  the  examination  been  really  as  thorough  as  was 
represented  ; or  rather  were  not  the  great  princes  trying  to  hush  up  the 
abuses  of  the  necropolis  ? At  the  close  of  second  day  of  trial,  when  the 
royal  vassal  Nesamun  was  holding  a sitting  in  the  Temple  of  Ptah,  Paser 
met  some  who  had  taken  part  in  the  investigation,  and  could  not  restrain 
his  vexation.  He  declared  openly  that  he  had  no  faith  in  the  embassy 
which  had  been  sent  with  so  much  fuss,  that  he  was  now  quite  aware  of 
how  matters  were  passing  in  the  necropolis,  and  that  he  would  inform 
the  Pharaoh  directly  upon  the  subject. 

This  declaration  on  the  part  of  Paser  was  immediately  reported  to 
Paser'a,  and  the  threat  seems  to  have  awakened  fear  in  the  heart  of  the 
latter.  The  next  day  he  sent  a long  letter  to  the  governor  informing 
him  of  the  declarations  and  threats  of  his  colleague,  evidently  with  the 


VII 


THE  POLICE  AND  THE  COURTS  OF  JUSTICE 


135 


view  of  inducing  the  governor  if  possible  to  take  judicial  measures  against 
Paser  before  he  should  carry  out  his  threats.  This  letter  was  written  in 
a very  excited  mood  ; a copy  in  somewhat  shortened  form,  with  the 
omission  of  the  usual  opening  and  closing  sentences,  is  to  be  found 
amongst  the  documents  still  extant  relating  to  this  cause  celebre.  The 
most  remarkable  passage  runs  thus  : 

“ The  royal  vassal  Nesamun,  the  scribe  of  Pharaoh,  held  a sitting.  The 
prince  of  the  town  was  with  him.  The  latter  stationed  himself  near  the 
temple  of  Ptah  and  quarrelled  with  the  people  of  the  necropolis.  The 
prince  of  the  town  said  to  the  people  of  the  necropolis  : ‘You  have  rejoiced 
before  the  door  of  my  house.  Was  I indeed  the  prince  who  gave  information 
to  the  monarch  ? You  rejoice  on  this  account  only.  You  have  been  there ; an 
examination  has  been  made  ; and  you  have  found  all  in  order.  Only  the 
tombs  of  Sebekemsaf  and  of  Nubch'as  his  royal  consort  were  found  broken 
into — the  tomb  of  one  great  ruler  only,  while  reports  were  given  in  with 
regard  to  ten.  The  anger  of  the  great  god  Amon  Re‘  king  of  the  gods 
against  his  monuments  abides  surely  in  that  tomb.’ 1 Thereupon  thus 
answered  the  workman  Userchopesh,  who  was  under  the  chief  workman 
Nachtemhe't  of  the  necropolis:  ‘All  the  kings,  together  with  their  royal 
consorts,  the  royal  mothers  and  royal  children,  who  lie  in  the  great  noble 
necropolis,  and  who  rest  in  the  place  of  beauties,  are  uninjured.  They  guide 
and  protect  the  plans  of  the  Pharaoh  their  son,  who  watches  over  them,  and 
who  has  caused  them  to  be  thoroughly  examined.’  The  prince  of  the 
town  answered  him  : ‘ Thou  dost  maintain  proudly  what  thou  dost  say  ; 
that  was  indeed  no  small  speech.  Pooh  ! ’ thus  said  the  prince  of  the 
town. 

“ The  prince  of  the  town  again  began  to  speak  for  the  second  time, 
and  said  : ‘ The  scribe  Hor’e,  son  of  Amennacht  of  the  necropolis  Chenu- 
chen’e,  came  into  my  house  to  the  great  ...  of  the  town,  and  brought 
me  information  of  three  important  matters,  which  were  taken  down  in 
writing  by  my  scribe  and  by  the  scribe  of  the  two  districts  of  the  town. 
The  scribe  Peibasa  of  the  necropolis  also  told  me  of  two  other  matters 
(five  therefore  altogether)  which  were  also  taken  down  in  writing.  It  is 
impossible  to  be  silent  concerning  them.  Pooh ! they  are  such  great 
crimes  that  they  deserve  execution,  death,  and  every  kind  of  punishment. 
Now  I shall  write  to  the  Pharaoh  on  the  subject,  so  that  a man  may  be 
sent  by  the  Pharaoh  to  ruin  you.’ 

“Thus  spake  this  prince  of  the  town  to  them,  and  he  swore  ten  oaths 
that  he  would  do  this.  I heard  these  words,  which  were  spoken  by  the 
prince  of  the  town  to  the  people  of  the  Pharaoh’s  noble  great  necropolis 
enduring  for  millions  of  years  in  western  Thebes,  and  (herewith)  I report 

1 The  meaning  of  this  disconnected  and  very  difficult  speech  seems  to  be:  “I  care  nothing 
about  the  business,  for  the  accusation  to  the  king  did  not  proceed  from  me  ” (this  was  only  half  the 
truth).  Then  ironically  : “ It  is  very  fine  that  you  have  only  found  one  royal  tomb  violated,  and  of 
course  this  injury  must  not  be  attributed  to  bad  administration,  but  was  caused  by  the  special  anger 
of  the  gods  against  that  king.” 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


136 


them  to  my  lords,  for  it  would  be  a crime  for  any  one  in  my  position  to 
hear  such  words  and  to  keep  them  secret.  Though  I could  not  be 
present  myself  at  the  great  speech  made  by  the  prince  of  the  town,  yet 
it  was  told  to  me  by  the  scribes  of  the  necropolis  Chene,  who  stood 
amongst  the  people  close  by.  Alas  ! my  feet  could  not  carry  me  so  far. 

I now  report  them  to  my  lord,  and  may  my  lord  cause  some  one  to  be 
fetched  who  was  present  when  the  words  of  the  prince  of  the  town  were 
spoken.  The  scribes  of  the  necropolis  reported  them  to  me.  I said,  ‘ I 
will  write  on  the  subject  to  the  Pharaoh.’  It  is,  however,  a crime  of  those 
two  scribes  of  the  necropolis  that  they  should  have  gone  to  this  prince 
of  the  town  with  their  reports  ; their  ancestors  certainly  never  made 
reports  to  him,  but  to  the  governor  when  he  was  in  the  south.  If  he 
happened  to  be  in  the  north,  then  the  royal  police  of  the  necropolis 
would  go  with  their  documents  to  the  place  where  the  governor  was 
staying. 

“ On  the  20th  Athyr  in  the  1 6th  year,  witnesses  were  brought  before 
me  to  testify  as  to  these  words  of  the  prince  of  the  town,  and  I now  lay 
them  before  my  lord  in  writing,  so  that  my  lord  may  send  to-morrow  to 
fetch  an  ear-witness.” 

In  fact  this  challenge  was  received  by  the  governor  on  the  next  day, 
at  the  time  when  he  was  presiding  at  a session.  The  document  was 
entered  amongst  the  acts  in  this  wise  : 

“ Behold  the  superintendent  of  the  town,  the  governor  Cha'emuese, 
has  ordered  to  be  brought  before  him  : 

Of  the  temple  of  Ramses  III.,  I The  metal-worker  Peicharu,  son  of  Charuy, 

servants  of  the  first  / the  metal-worker  T'aroy,  son  of  Cha'emopet, 
Prophet  of  Anion,  ^ the  metal-worker  Peikamen,  son  of  T'aroy. 

“ The  governor  said  to  the  great  princes  of  the  great  court  of  justice  of 
the  town.  ‘ On  the  19th  of  Athyr,  in  the  16th  year,  in  the  presence  of  the 
royal  vassal,  the  scribe  of  the  Pharaoh,  this  prince  of  the  town  said  some 
words  to  the  inspectors  and  workmen  of  the  necropolis,  at  the  same  time 
speaking  abusively  of  the  great  chambers,  which  are  found  in  the  place  of 
beauties.  I,  the  governor  of  the  country,  went  thither  with  the  royal 
vassal  Nesamun,  the  scribe  of  Pharaoh.  We  have  examined  the  places 
where  the  prince  of  the  town  said  that  the  metal-workers  of  the  temple 
of  Ramses  III.  in  the  temple  of  Amon  had  been,  and  we  found  that  they 
were  uninjured.  He  was  (therefore)  found  guilty  in  everything  that  he 
had  said.  Now  behold  the  metal-workers  stand  before  you,  let  them 
tell  everything  that  took  place.’ 

“ Audience  was  given  to  them,  and  it  was  found  that  the  people  knew 
none  of  those  chambers  in  the  places  of  the  Pharaoh  (i.e.  the  necropolis), 
against  which  this  prince  of  the  town  had  spoken.  He  was  declared 
guilty  in  the  matter. 

“ The  great  princes  spared  the  lives  of  the  metal-workers  of  the  temple 
of  Ramses  III.  They  were  sent  back  the  same  day  to  Amenhotep,  the 


VII 


THE  POLICE  AND  THE  COURTS  OF  JUSTICE 


137 


first  prophet  of  Amon  Re‘.  A document  was  written  on  the  subject,  and 
was  placed  in  the  archives  of  the  governor.” 

Our  documents  do  not  inform  us  how  this  unpleasant  business  pro- 
ceeded further  ; perhaps  both  parties  found  it  advisable  to  put  it  aside  and 
not  to  bring  it  before  the  Pharaoh.  Neither  had  anything  to  gain  by  this 
step  ; the  prince  of  the  town  had  said  things  which  were  certainly  foolish, 
and  which  could  easily  be  construed  as  treasonable  ; and  the  prince  of  the 
necropolis  also,  and  his  patron  the  governor,  could  scarcely  boast  of  a 
clean  conscience.  The  condition  of  affairs  in  the  necropolis  was  certainly 
very  bad,  for  though  possibly  one  only  of  the  royal  tombs  had  been 
violated,  yet  the  private  tombs  had  “ all  been  broken  into  by  the  thieves.” 
After  this  great  investigation  everything  seems  to  have  gone  on  in 
the  old  way  ; three  years  later,  in  the  first  year  of  Ramses  X.,  about 
sixty  arrests  were  made  of  persons  supposed  to  be  thieves.1  Those  who 
fell  under  suspicion  this  time  were  not  poor  serfs,  but,  for  the  most  part, 
officials  of  a low  rank  amongst  whom  we  even  find  a scribe  of  the 
treasury  of  Amon,  a priest  of  Amon,  and  a priest  of  Chons.  Many  of 
the  others  were  “ out  of  office,”  eg.  a “ former  prophet  of  the  god  Sobk,” 
from  Per'onch,  a town  in  the  Feyum,  probably  a fictitious  personage. 
Most  of  the  thieves  were  of  course  Thebans,  others  had  come  from  the 
neighbouring  places  for  the  sake  of  this  lucrative  business.  They  did 
not  rob  the  same  part  of  the  necropolis  as  their  predecessors  of  the  16th 
year,  but  turned  their  attention  to  the  barren  valley  now  called  the  Biban 
el  Moluk.  Here  they  robbed  the  outer  chambers  of  the  tombs  of  Ramses 
II.  and  Sety  I.,  and  sold  the  stolen  property  ; their  wives,  who  were  also 
arrested,  may  have  been  their  accomplices  in  this  matter.  The  Berlin 
museum  actually  possesses  an  object  which  in  all  probability  belonged  to 
their  plunder  — a bronze  funerary  statuette  of  King  Ramses  II.  The 
thieves  broke  off  the  gold  with  which  it  was  overlaid,  and  flattened  and 
mutilated  the  graceful  figure;  they  then  threw  away  the  bronze  as  worthless 
into  some  corner,  where  by  a happy  chance  it  was  preserved  to  us.  The 
robbery  might  not  have  been  discovered  had  not  the  thieves  finally  quar- 
relled over  the  division  of  the  spoil,  and  one  of  them,  who  thought  himself 
ill  used,  went  to  an  officer  of  the  necropolis  and  denounced  his  comrades. 

This  great  capture  by  the  Egyptian  police  could  not  save  the  royal 
tombs  from  their  impending  fate.  Owing  to  their  isolated  position  in  the 
bare  desert  valley,  the  violation  of  the  tombs  and  the  thefts  continued  as 
formerly,  and  a few  years  later  the  state  officials  confessed  openly  that 
they  were  powerless  against  the  thieves.  They  were  obliged  to  abandon 
the  tombs  which  were  exposed  to  danger,  and  to  try  only  to  save  the 
royal  bodies  ; even  these  were  somewhat  injured  and  had  to  be  restored 
as  well  as  possible.  Distracted  by  fear,  they  dragged  the  bodies  from 
tomb  to  tomb  ; eg.  the  mummy  of  Ramses  II.  was  first  placed  in  the 
tomb  of  Sety  I.,  and  when  that  tomb  was  threatened,  in  that  of  Amen- 

1 Abbott,  8,  and  Pap.  Mayer,  which  I unfortunately  only  know  from  Goodwin’s  short  annota- 
tions. A.  Z.,  1873,  39  1874,  61  ff. 


i3§ 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


hotep  I.  Finally  there  was  nothing  further  to  be  done  but  in  the  dark- 
ness of  the  night  to  bring  the  bodies  that  remained,  and  hide  them  in  an 
unknown  deep  rocky  pit  in  the  mountains  of  Der-el-bahri.  So  greatly 
did  they  fear  the  thieves  that  the  priests  no  longer  dared  to  inter  in 
state  the  mummies  of  the  royal  house,  but  hid  them  also  in  this  hiding- 
place.  They  were  well  concealed  there.  All  the  great  monarchs  of  the 
New  Empire — Ra'sqenen,  who  expelled  the  Hyksos,  the  sacred  queen 
A‘hmose-nefert-’ere,  the  ancestress  of  the  1 8th  dynasty,  Amenhotep  I., 
Thothmes  II.,  Thothmes  III.  the  great  conqueror,  Sety  I.,  the  great  Ramses 
II.  and  many  others  rested  here  unmolested  till  quite  modern  times.  It 
was  only  about  the  year  1875  that  the  fellahs  of  the  village  of  Ourna, 
the  modern  robbers  of  the  Theban  necropolis,  found  this  pit  ; they  guarded 
their  secret  with  care  until  the  summer  of  1881  when  it  was  discovered 
by  the  energetic  measures  of  the  Egyptian  authorities.  It  was  a great 

day  for  science  when 
on  5th  July  1881  the 
officers  of  the  Bulak 
Museum  entered  this 
most  wonderful  of  all 
tombs.  When  the  mar- 
vellous tidings  were 
telegraphed  to  Europe 
many  shook  their  heads 
incredulously ; the  news 
was  too  much  like  a 


fairy  tale.  In  no  other 
branch  of  archaeology 
has  such  a remarkable 
find  been  recorded ; and 
we  owe  our  good  fortune 
to  those  bands  of  thieves  with  whose  lawsuits  we  have  been  so  busy  above. 


UERCHUU,  THE  ROYAL  RELATIVE,  THE  ROYAL  SCRIBE  OF  PHARAOH, 
JUDGE  AND  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  SCRIBES,  JUDGE  AND  SUPER- 
INTENDENTOF  THE  TWO  COURTS  OF  JUSTICE,  ETC.,  RIDES  OUT 
IN  A SEDAN  CHAIR. 

Before  him  is  his  runner,  behind  him  his  fan-bearer.  (After  L.  D., 
ii.  43a.) 


We  have  already  had  occasion  to  speak  of  the  courts  of  justice  of  the 
older  period  (see  p.  87  fifi).  Under  the  Old  Empire  Upper  Egypt  possessed 
six  courts  of  justice  or  great  houses , at  the  head  of  which  was  an  all- 
powerful  chief  judge.  Each  of  the  “ thirty  great  men  of  the  south  ” was 
a judge  and  a district  chief,  and  as  such  was  also  a “ privy  councillor  of 
the  pondering  of  the  secret  words  of  the  great  house,”  1 that  is,  he  was 
member  of  one  of  the  six  courts  of  justice  ;2  the  chief  of  these  great  men, 
the  “ governor  of  the  south,”  as  “ privy  councillor  of  secret  words  of  the 
six  great  houses,”  alone  had  a seat  in  all.  Before  these  great  men  rose 


1 Instead  of  this  title  we  find  as  an  exception  a great  man  of  the  south,  who  is  called  “Super- 
intendent of  the  royal  audience  ^ ^ | of  the  pondering  of  all  words.”  (Mar.  Mast., 

109). 

2 Brugsch  first  rightly  distinguished  these  great  houses,  as  well  as  the  words  for  judge  and  chief 
iudge  (Diet.  Suppl.,  390  ff.). 


VII 


THE  POLICE  AND  THE  COURTS  OF  JUSTICE 


139 


to  the  rank  of  full  judge,  they  usually  superintended  the  office  work  of 
the  court;  they  were  entitled  “judge  and  scribe,”1  “judge  and  deputy 
superintendent  of  the  scribes,”  2 or  later  in  their  career  “judge  and  chief  of 
the  scribes,”  3 finally  they  were  promoted  by  the  favour  of  Pharaoh  to  be 
one  of  the  thirty  great  men  of  the  south.  Besides  these  collegiate  judges, 

there  were  individual  judges,  as  the  ^ and  the  ^ who 


seem  to  have  belonged  to  no  court  of  justice.  The  latter,  the  “judges 
belonging  to  the  town  of 
Nechent,”  officiated  as  assist- 
ants of  the  chief  judge  ; they 
gave  audience  with  him  “ on  all 
secret  occasions,”  and  like  him 
they  represented  “ the  king,  the 
royal  household,  and  the  six 
great  houses.”  4 

The  administration  of  justice 

was  evidently  well  organised, 

and  played  an  important  part 

in  the  state.  The  judges  had 

a special  patron  saint,  Ma‘at  the 

goddess  of  truth  • all  judges  of  horus  weighs  the  heart  of  the  deceased  in  the 
, . , , ’ &.  underworld:  in  the  other  scale  is  the 

high  rank  served  her  as  priests, 

and  the  chief  judge  wore  a little 
figure  of  this  goddess  round  his  The  goddess  Ma'at  is  watching  that  the  weighing  is 

neck  as  a badge  of  office.5  riTht  = Thot>j'  the  s°d  of  wisdom,  is  waiting  to 

& # # write  down  the  result.  (After  L.  D. , in.  78.) 

The  most  ancient  consti- 
tution of  the  courts  of  justice  seems  to  have  perished  early  under 
the  Middle  Empire  ; as  far  as  I know,  we  only  meet  with  one  of 
the  lower  orders  of  judges,  that  “ belonging  to  the  town  Nechent”; 
and  this  is  probably  a mere  title  of  the  nomarchs  of  Beni  Hasan  and 
Siut.  The  office  of  chief  judge,  on  the  other  hand,  in  connection  with 
the  dignity  of  governor,  survived  even  under  the  New  Empire.  Probably 
this  office,  like  others  which  also  outlived  the  Old  Empire,  had  long 
become  a sinecure,  and  survived  only  as  the  addition  of  a traditional  title. 
Under  the  New  Empire  we  still  find  the  “governor  of  the  six  great 
houses,”  6 though  these  ancient  courts  of  justice  had  long  since  ceased  to 
exist  except  in  name.  The  court  of  justice  of  the  New  Empire  had  not 
only  an  entirely  different  constitution,  but  differed  also  in  name  from 
that  of  the  Old  Empire.  The  great  house  was  formerly  a permanent 

assembly  of  high  government  officials,  the  ^ o 2^  was  a court  of 
justice,  in  which  the  members  varied.  It  consisted  of  “wise  men  and 


p,  THE  SIGN  FOR  TRUTH. 


1 R.  J.  H.,  84.  91.  97.  2 lb.  52.  78.  99.  3 lb.  52. 

4 A.  Z.,  1882,  pp.  2-3,  10-12.  Cp.  also  L.  D.,  ii.  16=  R.  J.  H.,  64. 

5 We  see  from  passages  quoted  by  Brugsch,  Diet.  Suppl.,  390,  that  this  ornament  spoken  of  by 

Diodorus  was  really  the  traditional  badge  of  the  chief  judge.  6 Br. , Diet.  Suppl.,  392. 


140 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


princes,”  1 that  is  of  priests  and  officials,  who  “ formed  the  great  court  of 
justice;”  on  a certain  day  they  assembled  at  the  gate  of  a temple,  eg. 
“ near  the  two  stelae  in  the  court  of  Amon,  at  the  gate  ‘ adoration,’ 2 or 
near  the  great  gate,  ‘contented  with  truth,’  of  King  Ramses  II.,  opposite 
that  of  Amon.”  3 On  the  latter  spot  there  stood  in  facta  “justice  hall 
of  the  Pharaoh,”4  which  became  so  famous  as  a place  of  justice  that  a 
deceased  poet  amongst  the  justified  of  the  nether  world  entitles  it  the 
“excellent  gate,  ‘contented  about  the  doing  of  truth.’”5  We  see  by  the 
fact  that  the  court  of  justice  was  called  the  “court  of  this  day,” e that 
those  who  were  qualified  by  their  official  or  priestly  office  to  serve  did 
not  all  sit  at  the  same  time,  and  in  fact  the  composition  of  the  court 
varied  very  much.  On  the  2ist  of  Athyr  in  the  I 6th  year  of  Ramses  IX. 
the  court  of  justice  sitting  in  judgment  on  the  princes  of  the  town  con- 
sisted of : 

“ The  governor  Cha'emuese,  the  superintendent  of  the  town. 

Amenhotep,  the  first  prophet  of  Amon  Re‘,  king  of  the  gods. 

Nesamun,  of  the  temple  of  Ramses  IX.  enduring  for  millions  of 
years,  the  prophet  of  Amon  Re‘,  king  of  the  gods. 

The  royal  vassal  Nesamun,  the  scribe  of  the  Pharaoh,  and  chief  of 
the  house  of  the  high  priestess  of  Amon  Re‘,  king  of  the  gods. 

The  royal  vassal  Neferkere‘-em-per-Amun,  the  speaker  of  the  Pharaoh. 

Hor’e,  the  deputy  of  . . . 

The  fan-bearer  of  the  household  of  Hor’e. 

Paser,  the  prince  of  the  town.”  ' 

In  this  case  the  lay  element  preponderated,  but  on  the  14th  of  Phaophi 
in  the  46th  year  of  Ramses  II.  we  find  the  members  of  the  court  con- 
sisted of : 

“ Bekenchons,  the  first  prophet  of  Amon. 

Ueser-mont,  the  prophet  of  Amon. 

Ram,  the  prophet  of  Amon. 

The  prophet  Uennofre  of  the  temple  of  Mut. 

The  prophet  Amen-em-’en  of  the  temple  of  Chons. 

The  (holy  father  ?)  Amen-em-opet  of  the  temple  of  Amon. 

Amenhotep,  the  priest  and  reader  of  Amon. 

Any,  the  priest  and  reader  of  Amon. 

The  priest  Huy  of  the  temple  of  Amon. 

The  accountant  Huy  of  the  court  of  justice  of  the  town.”  5 

In  this  case  therefore  we  find  nine  priests  and  but  one  layman,  i.e.  the 
permanent  scribe  of  the  court  who  reported  the  lawsuit.9  It  was  right  that 
there  should  be  a permanent  official  in  these  affairs  of  law,  for  the  protocol 
was  the  determining  document  of  the  process,  the  whole  transaction  being 

1 Abb.,  7,  2.  2 Abb.,  7,  1.  3 A.  Z.,  1879,  72. 

4 A.  Z.,  1879,  72.  5 An.,  4,  4,  7.  6 A.  Z.,  1879,  72.  Abb.,  7,  2. 

7 Abb.,  7,  3 ff.  The  closing  sentence  might  be  construed  thus  : “ the  fan-bearer  of  the  household 
of  the  prince,”  yet  this  rendering  presents  a grammatical  difficulty. 

8 A.  Z.,  1879,  72. 

9 These  scribes  of  the  court  are  also  called  “ the  royal  scribes  of  truth.”  Mar.  Cat.  d Ab.,433,  1216. 


VII 


THE  POLICE  AND  THE  COURTS  OF  JUSTICE 


141 


conducted  byword  of  mouth.  In  the  civil  court,  the  plaintiff  first  preferred 
his  complaint,  the  court  being  seated  1 and  the  contending  parties  stand- 
ing;2 the  court  then  declared  that  the  case  was  heard , and  summoned  the 
defendant  to  answer.  After  the  defence,  the  court  gave  sentence.  The 
victor,  then  turning  to  the  other  party,  stated  the  award  adjudicated  to 
him,  and  the  one  who  had  lost  declared  with  the  words  “ I do  it,  indeed  I 
do  it,  I do  it,”  that  he  submitted  to  the  sentence  of  the  court.3  It  was  the 
same  in  criminal  cases,  except  that  the  accusations  4 were  addressed  to  the 
governor,  who  took  the  place  of  the  plaintiff.  In  these  cases  also  the 
sentence  was  not  always  pronounced  by  the  court.  It  sufficed  for  the 
court  to  declare  the  guilt  of  the  prisoner,  to  “find  him  guilty”;5  the 
deed  was  then  sent  to  the  Pharaoh,0  and  it  was  left  for  him  to  decide 
what  punishment  should  be  inflicted. 

The  laws  which  guided  the  king  and  courts  in  their  decisions  are 
unfortunately  unknown  to  us.  Some  of  them  were  said  to  have  been  of 
divine  origin  ; a deed  informs  us  that  the  criminal  should  be  condemned 
to  the  “ great  punishment  of  death,  of  which  the  gods  say  ‘ do  it  to  him,’  ” 
and  it  expressly  states  further  that  this  decree  of  the  gods  is  written  in 
the  “ writings  of  the  divine  words.”  ' Diodorus  probably  says  truly  that 
he  was  informed  that  the  sacred  books  of  law  had  been  composed  by 
Thoth  the  god  of  wisdom.8  He  may  also  be  right  on  the  whole  with 
regard  to  what  he  states  as  to  the  contents  of  the  old  laws.  It  is  quite 
probable  that  murder  either  of  a free  man  or  of  a slave,  as  well  as  perjury, 
was  punishable  with  death  ; treachery  with  the  cutting  out  the  tongue  ; the 
forgery  of  acts  or  seals  with  the  cutting  off  the  hand.9  It  sounds  more 
doubtful  when  Diodorus  tells  us  that  the  infanticide  had  to  hold  the  corpse 
of  her  infant  three  whole  days  in  her  arms  ; 10  the  refinement  of  such  a 
punishment  savours  rather  of  the  invention  of  the  Greek  philosophers. 
Punishment  was  regarded  as  the  necessary  consequence  of  crime,  which 
pursued  the  delinquent  to  his  destruction  ; he  who  is  punished,11  “ his  crime 
seizes  him,12  it  overtakes  him  and  undoes  him.” 

Besides  these  old  sacred  laws,  there  were  others  originating  in  historical 
times.  Diodorus  informs  us  expressly  of  laws  made  by  certain  wise  kings,13 
and  in  fact  the  old  chief  judge  Mentuhotep  boasts  that  he  had  “ given 
laws.” 14  Under  the  12th  dynasty  the  canon  of  the  old  laws  was  not 
considered  finally  closed,  and  the  same  is  probably  true  of  later  times. 

There  were  of  course  particular  cases,  which  formed  exceptions  to  the 
usual  procedure  of  justice  described  above.  Acts  were  committed  by 
those  immediately  surrounding  the  king  which  could  not  be  passed  over, 
but  which  it  was  not  prudent  to  expose  to  the  eyes  of  the  people.  In 
such  cases,  as  in  all  autocratic  states,  the  Pharaoh  broke  through  the  usual 

1 Abb.,  7,  2.  2 An.,  6,  6,  12.  Tur.,  16,  8. 

3 Cp.  the  Berlin  Pap.,  47,  pub.  A.  Z.,  1S79,  72  ff.  A fragment  of  a similar  text  is  now  at  Munich. 

4 A.  Z.,  1879,  133.  5 Abb.,  7,  14.  6 Amherst,  3,  9.  7 Lee,  1,  7,  2,  3.  8 Diod.,  1,  94,  7;. 

9 Diod.,  1,  77,  78.  10  Diod.,  1,  77.  11  Pj.  T.,  4,  1.  6,  1.  12  Pj.  T.,  4,  2. 

13  Diod.,  1,  94.  14  “ Dada  lipu R.  J.  PI.,  303. 


142 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


course  of  justice,  and,  passing  by  the  highest  of  his  law  officials,  he  intrusted 
the  trial  to  one  of  his  confidants.  We  know  of  a case  of  this  kind  as 
early  as  the  6th  dynasty.  We  quote  from  the  autobiography  of  Un’e  the 
favourite  of  King  Pepy,  whom  we  have  already  frequently  mentioned. 
He  relates  : “ When  the  lawsuit  was  conducted  secretly  in  the  royal 
household  against  the  great  royal  consort  ’Emtese,  his  majesty  ordered 
me  to  appear  in  order  to  direct  the  proceedings — I alone,  no  chief  judge, 
nor  governor,  nor  prince  was  present  ; I alone,  because  I was  agreeable 
and  pleasant  to  the  heart  of  his  majesty,  and  because  his  majesty  loved 
me — I myself,  I compiled  the  written  report  ; I alone  and  one  single 
judge  belonging  to  the  town  Nechent.  Yet  formerly  my  office  was  only 
that  of  a superintendent  of  the  royal  anterior  country,  and  no  one  in  my 
position  had  ever  in  earlier  times  heard  the  secret  affairs  of  the  royal 
household.  I alone  was  excepted,  his  majesty  allowed  me  to  hear  them 
because  I was  more  agreeable  to  the  heart  of  his  majesty  than  all  his 
princes,  than  all  his  nobles,  and  than  all  his  servants.”  1 Un’e  was  not 
inexperienced  in  such  affairs,  for  before  he  was  made  superintendent  of 
the  anterior  country,  he  himself  had  officiated  as  assistant  to  the  chief 
judge  (“  as  judge,  belonging  to  the  town  Nechent  ”). 

We  have  a more  detailed  account  of  a similar  lawsuit  of  later  time, 
concerning  the  great  harem  conspiracy  under  Ramses  III.  In  dealing 
with  this  wretched  business  the  Pharaoh  again  avoided  the  regular  law- 
courts,  and  appointed  a number  of  trusted  personages  to  form  a special 
court  of  justice,  and  gave  them  discretionary  powers  over  the  life  and 
death  of  the  criminals.  The  following  short  report  of  the  proceedings  of 
this  lawsuit  may  in  fact  have  been  arranged  for  the  royal  archives.  The 
official  origin  of  the  report  is  probable  from  the  exceeding  precaution 
displayed  by  the  compiler,  who  wisely  avoids  going  into  detail.'  At  the 
same  time,  even  from  his  short  account,  we  see  that  the  affairs  with  which 
this  trial  was  concerned  were  such  as  were  better  not  proclaimed  from  the 
housetops.  Certain  persons  belonging  to  the  royal  household  (fictitious 
names  alone  are  given)  had  conspired  against  his  majesty  and  planned  an 
open  rebellion.  The  harem  formed  the  centre  of  the  conspiracy.  One 
of  the  oldest  inmates,  Tey,  had  a son  Pentuere,  “who  also  bore  another 
name  ” (therefore  probably  a prince)  ; Tey  conspired  with  another  lady  of 
the  harem,  to  “ excite  enmity  against  their  lord,”  probably  with  the  object 
of  placing  Pentuere  on  the  throne.  Most  of  the  officials  of  the  women’s 
apartments  were  inculpated  in  the  conspiracy  ; the  higher  ones  took  an 
active  part — they  had  “ taken  counsel  with  the  women  ; ” the  lower  ones 
had  probably  known  of  the  conspiracy,  they  had  been  present  at  some  of 
the  consultations  of  the  conspirators,  and  had  thought  it  best  at  any  rate 
to  be  silent  about  the  matter,  even  if  they  did  not  agree  to  it.  We  see 
how  promising  the  affair  must  have  appeared  to  those  interested. 

1 A.  Z.,  1882,  10-12. 

2 The  description  here  given  of  the  great  trial  for  high  treason  under  Ramses  III.  is  taken  from  : 
the  judiciary  Papyrus  of  Turin,  Papyrus  Lee,  and  Papyrus  Rollin,  1S88.  Cp.  A.  Z.  1879,  76  ff. 


VII 


THE  POLICE  AND  THE  COURTS  OF  JUSTICE 


143 


It  was  most  important  for  Tey  and  her  companions  that  the  highest 
official  of  the  harem,  the  “great  man  of  the  house  Pai-bek’e-kamen,” 
should  join  actively  in  the  conspiracy,  for  through  him  they  were  able  to 
correspond  with  the  outside  world.  “ He  took  their  words  out  to  their 
mothers  and  brothers  outside,”  and  this  communication  ran  thus  : “ Excite 
the  people,  goad  on  the  enemies  to  begin  hostilities  against  their  lord.” 
For  the  moment  indeed  they  remained  quiet  ; the  troops  that  were  stationed 
in  Ethiopia  were  to  be  the  first  to  rise  against  the  Pharaoh  and  attack 
Egypt.  The  commander  of  these  troops  had  been  won  over  to  the 
conspiracy  ; his  sister  belonged  to  the  harem,  and  she  had  by  her  letters 
initiated  him  into  the  secret.  Other  high  officers  and  officials,  including 
even  the  high  priest  of  the  goddess  Sechemt,  joined  zealously  in  the  pre- 
parations for  the  rebellion.  They  thought  it  right  to  use  every  means  ; 
even  the  help  of  the  magic  art  was  called  in  to  do  harm  to  the  king. 
The  royal  “ superintendent  of  the  cows,”  a man  of  high  rank,  procured 
a magical  book  from  the  Pharaoh’s  own  library,  and  according  to  its 
directions  he  made  certain  wax  figures  which  were  smuggled  into  the 
palace,  where  they  were  supposed  to  cause  lameness  and  illness. 

These  designs  against  the  king’s  health  may  not  have  been  so  danger- 
ous perhaps  as  the  others  by  which  there  is  no  doubt  that  his  throne 
was  seriously  threatened.  We  do  not  know  how  it  came  about  that  the 
conspiracy  was  discovered  in  time  ; one  day  the  conspirators  (they  are 
officially  styled  the  “ abomination  of  the  land  ”)  were  arrested,  and 
brought  before  a kind  of  court-martial,  consisting  of  officials  of  high  and 
low  rank,  whom  the  king  believed  worthy  of  his  special  confidence.  The 
instructions  given  to  this  court  of  inquiry  have  come  down  to  us,  and  in 
them  we  read  the  following  characteristic  passage : “ What  the  people 
have  spoken,  I do  not  know.  Hasten  to  investigate  it.  You  will  go  and 
question  them,  and  those  who  must  die,  you  will  cause  to  die  by  their 
own  hand,  without  my  knowing  anything  of  it.  You  will  also  cause  the 
punishment  awarded  to  the  others  to  be  carried  out  without  my  knowing 
anything  of  it.”  We  see  that  the  Pharaoh  would  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  affair  ; the  criminals  were  too  closely  connected  with  him,  the  con- 
spiracy was  too  dangerous  for  him  to  institute  official  law  proceedings 
against  them,  which  would  drag  into  publicity  affairs  of  which  it  was 
better  for  the  people  to  know  nothing,  and  which  would  oblige  the  monarch 
himself  to  award  the  punishments  to  the  guilty.  He  therefore  preferred 
to  give  discretionary  powers  to  certain  persons  whom  he  trusted,  and  they 
were  to  despatch  the  wretched  business  as  quietly  and  quickly  as  possible. 
They  were  also  to  avoid  making  a sensation  by  the  punishments  ; whoever 
deserved  death  was  to  die  by  suicide. 

The  judges  proceeded  with  their  sad  business  ; the  work  was  so  heavy 
that  they  had  to  divide  themselves  into  two  commissions.  One,  consisting 
of  six  members,  the  “ great  princes  of  the  court  of  inquiry,”  undertook 
principally  the  trial  of  the  harem  officials  ; the  other  of  five  members, 
all  “ vassals  ” of  the  king,  had  fewer  but  more  weighty  crimes  to  judge  ; 


144 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


they  pronounced  death  sentences  only.  These  sentences  are  short  and 
monotonous : 

“ The  great  criminal  Mesd-su-Re‘  formerly  vassal.  He  was  brought 
to  trial  because  he  had  conspired  with  Pai-bek’e-kamen,  who  had  been 
chief  of  the  house,  and  with  the  women,  to  stir  up  malcontents  to  act 
with  hostility  against  their  master. 

“ He  was  brought  before  the  great  princes  of  the  court  of  inquiry. 
They  investigated  his  crime,  they  found  him  guilty,  they  caused  his 
punishment  to  be  carried  out.” 

With  people  of  lower  rank  the  proceedings  were  more  summary  : 

“ The  wives  of  the  doorkeepers  of  the  harem,  who  had  joined  with  their 
husbands  in  the  conspiracy,  were  placed  before  the  princes  of  the  court 
of  inquiry,  were  found  guilty,  and  their  punishment  was  ordered  to  be 
carried  out : six  persons.” 

The  following  is  an  example  of  the  sentence  passed  on  a dis- 
tinguished delinquent  : “ Pentuere,  who  formerly  bore  another  name. 
He  was  brought  before  the  court,  because  he  had  joined  with  his  mother 
Tey,  when  she  conspired  with  the  women  of  the  harem,  and  because 
he  acted  with  hostility  against  his  lord.  He  was  brought  before  the 
vassals,  that  they  might  question  him.  They  found  him  guilty  ; they 
dismissed  him  to  his  house  ; he  took  his  own  life.” 

The  concise  nature  of  these  deeds  shows  that  it  was  considered  desir- 
able that  as  little  as  possible  of  the  history  of  the  conspiracy  should  be 
passed  down  to  posterity.  We  cannot  tell  with  certainty  what  were  the 
names  of  any  of  the  culprits,  for  many  of  the  names  that  are  entered  are 
evidently  perverted.  One  vassal  is  called  Mesd-su-Re‘,  = “ the  sun-god 
hates  him,”  another  high  officer  Be’n-em-Uese,  = “ bad  in  Thebes  it  stands 
to  reason  that  these  could  not  be  the  real  names  of  these  persons  of  high 
rank.  Probably  in  truth  their  names  were  Nefr-em-Uese  = “good  in  Thebes,” 
and  Mer-su-Re‘ = “ the  sun-god  loves  him,”  but  the  zealous  loyalty  of  the 
scribes  of  our  report  distorted  these  names  into  others  of  bad  significance. 
Before  the  investigation  had  been  brought  to  a close,  an  incident 
occurred  which  shows  us  plainly  how  disturbed  were  the  conditions  in  the 
Egyptian  court  of  old.  Three  of  the  king’s  six  confidants  who  formed 
the  first  commission  had  to  be  suddenly  arrested.  The  accused  women 
of  the  harem  had  formed  close  friendship  with  them,  they  had  sought 
them  out  and,  with  them  and  with  Pai’es  the  chief  culprit,  they  had  “ made 
a beer-house  ” that  is  they  had  held  a revel.  This  was  an  unheard-of 
breach  of  confidence,  they  “ lost  the  good  tokens  of  favour  which  had  been 
shown  to  them  by  the  king,”  when  he  had  appointed  them  to  be  judges. 
But  “ their  guilt  seized  upon  them,”  and  “ their  punishment  was  fulfilled 
by  the  cutting  off  of  their  noses  and  ears.” 


The  two  great  lawsuits  which  we  have  already  described  in  this 
chapter  give  us  a complete,  though  scarcely  happy,  picture  of  criminal 


VII 


THE  POLICE  AND  THE  COURTS  OF  JUSTICE 


145 


justice  in  Egypt ; as  to  civil  law  unfortunately  there  is  scarcely  any  material 
to  help  us.  The  two  non-criminal  law  documents  which  we  possess  are 
so  much  injured  that  it  is  impossible  to  quote  from  them  ; the  disputes 
about  mine  and  thine , which  occasionally  fill  private  letters,  are  very 
obscure,  and  neither  wills  nor  bills  are  to  be  found.  Fortunately  for  our 
subject  we  have  a number  of  contracts  (the  sealed , as  the  Egyptians  called 
them),  such  as  were  frequently  concluded  by  people  of  rank  in  order  to 
ensure  certain  revenues  for  religious  services  after  death.  Such  are  the 
ten  contracts  concluded  with  the  priesthood  of  his  town  by  Hapd'efa’e, 
a nomarch  of  Siut  in  the  time  of  the  Middle  Empire  ; they  are  in  perfect 
preservation  and  deserve  more  study.1  It  does  not  seem  that  Hapd'efa’e 
had  much  to  gain  by  them  ; he  wished  to  secure  that  his  five  statues, 
which  he  had  placed  in  his  tomb  and  in  the  temples  of  Siut,  should 
receive  from  the  priesthood  a yearly  offering  of  bread,  beer,  and  meat. 
He  wished  also  to  provide  for  the  “ kindling  of  the  lights,”  i.e.  the  illumina- 
tion of  the  statues,  which  took  place  on  many  festivals  ; he  therefore 
bound  the  priest,  who  had  the  care  of  the  lamps  in  the  temple,  regularly 
to  provide  the  wicks  for  this  illumination.  The  objects  which  Hapd'efa’e 
secured  by  his  ten  contracts  appear  to  us  very  insignificant — besides  these 
he  had  bequeathed  for  his  tomb  worship  an  endowment  of  “ fields,  servants, 
cattle,  gardens,  and  other  things  ” — and  we  scarcely  understand  why  he 
did  such  honour  to  these  ten  deeds,  as  to  write  them  down  for  us  in 
extenso  in  sixty  gigantic  lines  in  his  tomb. 

The  priesthood,  with  whom  he  concluded  his  contracts,  would  naturally 
do  nothing  without  a corresponding  return  ; he  had  to  pay  them  for  all 
the  offerings  they  were  to  offer.  He  did  this  partly  by  gift  of  lands  in 
his  own  possession,  partly  by  surrendering  certain  rights.  As  he  himself 
belonged  by  birth  to  the  priestly  college  of  the  god  ’Epuat,  he  had  a right 
to  a share  of  the  temple  rations,  supplied  out  of  the  temple  property  to 
the  individual  priests  ; in  order  to  pay  his  colleagues  it  was  therefore  the 
simplest  way  for  him  to  renounce  part  of  these  rations  on  behalf  of  him- 
self and  his  heirs. 

These  deeds  of  purchase  of  Hapd'efa’e  are  all  couched  in  the  same 
strictly  regular  form  : 

“ Contract  concluded  between  A and  B, 
that  B should  give  „r  to  A, 
whilst  A should  give  y to  B. 

Behold,  B was  therewith  content.” 

All  sorts  of  clauses  are  interpolated,  which  for  the  most  part  contain 
more  detailed  business  provisions.  This  plan  ought  fully  to  content 
lawyers.  It  is  in  no  wise  a deed  on  the  conclusion  of  the  completed  con- 
tract (this  would  run  : a contract  zms  concluded,  etc.),  but  it  is  in  fact 
rather  the  superscription,  or  the  table  of  contents  of  the  contract.  We 

1 Cp.  with  all  that  follows  my  work  A.  Z.,  1882,  p.  159  ff.  Similar  “sealed  rolls  for  payment” 
( chcteml  dbau ) were  concluded  for  the  same  object  by  the  priests  of  Abydos  with  people  of  rank  : 
Mar.  Abyd. , ii.  25. 

L 


146 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


might  almost  imagine  that  the  scribe  had  ventured  to  change  the  formula 
somewhat  when  these  deeds  were  inscribed  in  the  tomb. 

The  seventh  contract  gives  us  an  example  of  one  of  the  shortest : 

“ Contract,  concluded  between  the  late  chief  prophet  Hapd'efa’e  and 
the  great  priest  of  Anubis  for  three  wicks  to  be  delivered  to  him 
(to  the  priest)  ; the  same  to  be  burnt  in  the  lamps  of  the  temple 
of  Anubis  : 

one  on  the  fifth  intercalary  day,  on  the  New  Year’s  Eve, 
another  on  New  Year’s  Day, 

another  on  the  17th  of  Thoth,  the  eve  of  the  festival  of  Uag. 

For  this  he  shall  give  him  : 1000  field  measures  from  the  estate  of 
his  fathers,  as  the  price  for  these  three  wicks,  which  he  shall  deliver 
to  my  funerary  priest,  in  order  to  burn  in  the  lamps. 

Behold,  he  was  therewith  content.” 

Others,  however,  are  more  detailed  and  are  provided  with  many  clauses 
and  reasons,  as  eg.  the  third  : 

“ Contract,  concluded  by  Hapd'efa’e  the  prince  and  chief  prophet, 
with  the  official  staff  of  the  temple,  that  they  should  give  him 
bread  and  beer  on  1 8th  Thoth,  the  day  of  the  festival  of  Uag, 
whilst  he  should  give  them  : 24  temple  days,  out  of  his  property 
from  the  estate  of  his  fathers,  and  not  in  any  way  out  of  the 
property  of  the  estate  of  the  nomarch  ; in  fact,  four  days  for  the 
chief  prophets,  two  days  for  each  of  them. 

“ Behold,  he  said  to  them  : 

“ 1.  A temple-day  is  of  the  year.  If  all  the  bread,  beer,  and  meat 
that  is  received  daily  in  this  temple  be  divided,  the  ^ ,1  ()  of  the  bread  and 
beer  and  of  everything  that  is  received  in  this  temple,  is  a temple-day 
which  I give  to  you. 

“2.  It  is  my  property  from  the  estate  of  my  fathers,  and  not  in  any 
way  from  the  property  of  the  estate  of  the  nomarch,  because  I am  indeed 
a son  of  a priest  as  each  of  you  are. 

“ 3.  These  days  shall  form  the  remuneration  for  each  future  staff  of 
priests,  that  they  may  deliver  to  me  this  bread  and  beer,  which  they  shall 
give  to  me. 

“ Behold,  they  were  therewith  content.” 

A list  is  appended,  which  shows  how  the  requisition  of  bread  and 
beer  was  to  be  divided  between  the  ten  members  of  the  “official  staff”  of 
the  temple  ; each  should  give  2 jugs  of  beer  and  200  rolls  of  bread,  but 
the  chief  priest,  who  was  to  be  paid  by  four  temple-days,  was  to  supply  4 
jugs  of  beer  and  400  rolls  of  bread. 

These  three  clauses  of  the  document  are  very  interesting.  The  first 
declares  what  Hapd'efa’e  means  us  to  understand  by  the  day’s  ration 
of  the  temple.  It  was  never  to  be  taken  as  the  receipts  of  any  given 
day,  but  the  receipts  of  the  whole  year  were  to  be  added  together  and 
of  the  same  was  to  be  regarded  as  the  average  ration.  The  other 
clauses  were  to  protect  him  from  the  suspicion,  which  might  be  suggested, 


VII 


THE  POLICE  AND  THE  COURTS  OF  JUSTICE 


147 


that  he  was  disposing  of  revenues  which  were  not  his  own  by  inheritance  ; 
he  declares  that  he  belongs  by  birth  to  the  priesthood,  and  has,  therefore, 
full  rights  to  the  revenues  of  that  position.  Finally,  the  third  clause 
again  points  out  what  were  the  good  offices  for  which  he  renounces  to 
his  colleagues  the  fifteenth  part  of  his  yearly  income  as  priest. 

We  see  from  these  instances  that  there  existed  a complete  system  of 
drawing  up  contracts,  and  this  is  confirmed  by  the  facts  contained  in 
these  curious  records.  It  is  most  remarkable  how  limited  were  the  testa- 
mentary powers  of  the  nomarch  ; again  and  again  emphasis  is  laid  on  the 
fact  that  he  can  only  dispose  of  that  part  of  his  property  and  revenue 
which  was  really  hereditary  in  his  family.  As  high  priest  of  his  temple, 
for  instance,  he  was  entitled  to  a roast  piece  of  the  bulls  sacrificed  in  the 
temples  ; he  might  wish  that  subsequently  this  piece  should  be  offered  to 
his  statue  on  great  processional  days,  but  he  could  not  himself  arrange 
this.  Membership  of  the  priestly  college  might  be  hereditary  in  his  family 
but  not  the  dignity  of  high  priest,  and  therefore  he  could  not  dispose  of 
those  particular  revenues  due  to  the  latter.  In  order  to  arrange  any  small 
affair  according  to  his  wish  it  was  necessary  to  set  in  motion  a compli- 
cated system  of  judicial  machinery.  In  his  capacity  as  a private  indi- 
vidual he  concludes  a contract  with  himself  as  chief  prophet  for  the  time 
being,  and  purchases  from  himself  the  roast  piece  in  question,  in  return 
for  two  of  the  above-mentioned  rations.  In  order  that  this  contract 
should  be  incontestable,  he  expressly  obtains  the  consent  of  the  priestly 
body  to  the  transaction. 

A people  who  could  so  clearly  grasp  the  double  nature  of  an  indi- 
viduality as  to  allow  him  to  conclude  contracts  with  himself,  was  certainly 
long  past  the  time  of  judicial  infancy,  and  had  attained  to  a highly 
developed  legal  status.  Unfortunately,  as  has  already  been  said,  there 
is  barely  any  material  from  which  we  can  learn  much  of  the  subject. 

The  tomb  of  Hapd'efa’e  contains  extracts  at  any  rate  of  one  other 
document  of  legal  nature,  viz.  the  provision  which  he  exacted  from  his 
funerary  priest,1  when  he  endowed  him  “ with  fields,  with  servants,  with 
herds,  with  tanks,  and  with  all  kinds  of  other  things.”  The  office  of 
funerary  priest  was  usually  hereditary  in  one  family,  there  was  therefore 
danger  that  the  properties  belonging  to  that  office  should  at  some  time  be 
split  up  by  inheritance.  Hapd'efa’e  forbids  this  expressly  : “ these  things 
shall  only  belong  to  one  of  thy  sons,  the  one  whom,  above  thine  other 
children,  thou  dost  desire  to  be  my  funerary  priest  . . . and  he  again  shall 
not  divide  it  amongst  his  children.”  Similar  statutes  concerning  the 
funerary  tomb-priests,  exist  of  the  time  of  the  Old  Empire,2  they  also 
contain  detailed  provisions  about  the  inheritance  of  endowed  property,  and 
directions  are  given  how  disputes  are  to  be  settled  between  individuals 
entitled  to  it.  Unfortunately  these  sadly  injured  inscriptions  do  not  ex- 
plain to  us  the  particulars  of  the  stipulations,  yet  they  show  us  that  there 
existed  in  that  old  time  such  an  organised  system  of  jurisprudence,  that 

1 Mar.  Mon.  div.,  64,  9-12.  2 R.  J.  H.  I.  Mar.  Mast.,  318 — both  much  injured. 


i48 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


the  decree  of  this  statute  alone  ensured  sufficient  protection  against  the 
encroachments  even  of  posterity.  The  favourite  prayer  to  the  gods, 
commonly  used  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  on  occasions  of  similar  endow- 
ments, finds  no  place  here  ; it  is  enough  that  the  founder  of  the  endow- 
ment should  express  his  will  in  a formal  manner. 

It  was  quite  otherwise  in  later  times  ; eg.  when  the  chief  officer 
Amenhotep,  son  of  Hapu,  who  lived  under  Amenhotep  III.,  founded  the 
little  temple  of  Der-el-Medineh  dedicated  to  Amon  Re‘  in  Thebes,  he  did 
not  consider  his  foundation  sufficiently  safe  without  calling  down  the 
anger  of  the  gods  on  any  one  who  should  injure  it.  On  the  8th  of  Choiakh 
in  the  2ist  year,  when  the  king  visited  the  new  sanctuary,  the  following 
decree  was  published  by  certain  high  officials  of  the  state,  viz.  Amenhotep 
the  governor,  Meryptah  the  superintendent  of  the  house  of  silver,  and  the 
scribes  of  the  army : 1 “ Hear  the  decree,  issued  at  the  establishment  of 

the  temple  of  Kak,  belonging  to  the  hereditary  prince,  the  royal  scribe, 
Amenhotep  called  Huy,  the  son  of  Hapu  . . .,  that  his  temple  of  Kak, 
with  the  slaves  belonging  thereto  both  male  and  female,  should  endure 
eternally  from  son  to  son,  from  heir  to  heir,  and  that  no  one  should  ever 
transgress  this  decree,  for  as  long  as  this  temple  stands  upon  earth,  it  is 
sacred  to  Amon  Re‘,  king  of  the  gods,  who  is  king  eternally  and  the  pro- 
tector of  the  dead. 

“If  the  general  and  scribe  of  the  soldiers,  who  shall  be  my  successor, 
shall  find  that  the  temple  of  Kak  has  fallen  into  decay,  and  that  certain 
belonging  thereto  have  been  taken  away  from  the  slaves  who  raise  the 
corn  for  my  endowment, — if  he  then  uphold  all  the  laws  and  ordinances 
of  Pharaoh,  then  shall  his  bodily  life  be  satisfied. 

“ But  those  who  transgress  them  and  render  no  account  thereof,  upon 
them  shall  fall  the  destruction  of  Amon,  the  lord  of  Thebes,  who  will  not 
allow  them  to  be  satisfied  in  their  office  of  royal  scribe  of  the  army,  which 
they  have  received  for  me ! He  will  deliver  them  up  to  the  wrath  of  the 

king  on  the  day  of  his  anger,  his  snake  diadem  shall  spit  fire  on  the  crown 

of  their  head  destroying  their  sons.  It  shall  eat  their  body,  and  they  shall 
become  like  the  snake  Apophis  (the  enemy  of  the  sun-god),  on  the  New 
Year’s  Day.  They  shall  be  drowned  in  the  ocean,  which  shall  conceal 
their  bodies  ; they  shall  not  receive  the  funeral  services  of  the  just,  they 
shall  not  eat  the  food  of  the  god  Oerte,  they  shall  not  cool  themselves  on 
the  water,  on  the  course  of  the  river.  Their  sons  shall  not  succeed  them, 
their  wives  shall  be  used  shamefully  even  in  their  sight.  Honourable  men 
shall  not  enter  their  houses  as  long  as  they  are  upon  earth,  and  they 

shall  not  enter,  nor  be  led  into  the  palace  (?).  They  shall  not  hear  the 

voice  of  the  king  when  he  rejoices.  They  shall  be  slain  on  the  day  of 
destruction,  and  men  shall  call  them  miserable.  Their  bodies  shall  be  sick, 
they  shall  hunger  without  food  ; their  bodies  shall  die ! Above  all,  this 
curse  shall  fall  upon  the  governor,  the  treasurer,  the  superintendent  of  the 

1 This  decree  has  only  come  down  to  us  in  an  abstract  of  later  time : Inscript,  in  the  Hier.  Charact., 
T.  29.  Edited  by  Birch  (Chabas,  Melanges,  I.  p.  324  ff.)  and  Brugsch  (A.  Z.  1875,  p.  123  ff.). 


VII 


THE  POLICE  AND  THE  COURTS  OF  JUSTICE 


149 


storehouse,  the  first  prophet,  the  holy  fathers,  the  priests  of  Amon  to  whom 
this  edict  has  been  read,  which  has  been  issued  for  the  temple  of  Kak, 
belonging  to  the  hereditary  prince,  the  royal  scribe  Amenhdtep  the  son 
of  Hapu,  if  they  do  not  take  care  of  his  temple  of  Kak. 

“ If,  however,  you  shall  take  care  to  protect  the  temple  of  Kak,  with  the 
slaves  both  male  and  female,  who  raise  corn  for  my  property,  then  shall 
all  good  befall  you.  Amon  Re‘,  king  of  the  gods,  shall  reward  you  with 
a happy  life.  . . . Honours  shall  be  heaped  upon  you  ; you  shall  see  the 
sons  of  your  sons,  and  the  heirs  of  your  heirs.  You  shall  be  sent  on  em- 
bassies which  the  king  shall  reward.  Your  bodies  shall  rest  in  the  nether- 
world after  a life  of  1 10  years.  Your  food-offerings  shall  be  increased  as 
well  as  what  otherwise  is  due  to  you. 

“ What  I have  said  shall  fall  also  upon  those  officers  of  the  militia 
which  belong  to  the  district  of  the  prince  of  the  western  town,  called  Cheft- 
her-nebs,  who  shall  not  maintain  my  endowment  for  each  day,  and  all 
my  festivals  at  the  beginning  of  the  months  ; their  bodies  shall  not  thrive. 
But  if  they  attend  to  all  these  words,  which  are  issued  as  a command,  and 
are  obedient,  and  do  not  turn  aside  from  them,  good  shall  befall  them, 
even  as  to  the  just.  They  shall  rest  in  the  city  of  the  dead  after  a good 
old  age.” 

The  man  who  issued  this  decree,  so  rich  in  curses,  was  considered  by 
later  generations  as  the  model  of  a wise  man.1  This  document  will 
scarcely  appear  to  us  of  the  modern  world  as  a special  proof  of  his  wisdom, 
and  those  ancient  founders,  who  drew  up  their  documents  without  invoking 
the  help  of  the  gods  will  probably  stand  higher  in  our  esteem  than  the 
celebrated  Amenhotep,  the  son  of  Hapu,  who,  on  account  of  his  wisdom, 
as  Manetho  tells  us,  “ appeared  to  partake  of  the  divine  being.” 

1 A.  Z.,  1875,  123.  1876,  26.  1877,  147.  His  father  and  his  family,  L.  D.,  iii.  43  b. 


Amulet  in  the  Berlin  Museum. 


GROUP  OF  M'AYPTAH,  THE  PRIEST  OF  PTAH,  WITH  HIS  FAMILY. 

On  the  left  is  his  wife,  Ha'tshepest,  " the  lady  full  of  charms,  of  grace,  and  of  love”  ; on  the  right  is 
his  daughter,  'En'euhay,  the  “favourite  of  the  Pharaoh.”  The  small  figures  represent  a second 
daughter  and  her  son,  who  dedicated  the  statues  (Berlin,  2297). 


CHAPTER  VIII 

FAMILY  LIFE 

IT  has  often  been  said  that  the  essential  difference  between  the  civilisation 
of  the  West  and  of  the  East  consists  in  the  different  status  of  woman.  In 
the  West  she  is  the  companion  of  man,  in  the  East  his  servant  and  his  toy. 
In  the  West,  at  one  time,  the  esteem  in  which  woman  was  held  rose  to  a 
cult,  while  in  the  East  the  question  has  been  earnestly  discussed  whether 
woman  really  belonged  to  the  human  race. 

This  view  of  the  matter,  however,  is  just  neither  to  the  East  nor  to  the 
West  ; for  the  teaching  of  Mohammed  with  regard  to  woman  represents 
as  great  an  extreme  on  one  side,  as  the  sentimental  cult  of  woman  in  the 
Middle  Ages  on  the  other.  The  position  of  woman  is  very  much  the 
same  amongst  all  nations  who  have  attained  a certain  degree  of  culture, 
unless  that  position  is  affected  by  particular  religious  views  such  as  those 
of  Mohammedanism  or  Christianity.  As  a rule,  one  woman  is  the  legiti- 
mate wife  and  the  mistress  of  the  house  ; at  the  same  time  the  man  may, 
if  his  fortune  allow  it,  keep  other  women,  and  it  is  generally  considered 
that  the  slaves  of  the  household  belong  to  him.  This  state  of  things, 
which  appears  to  us  most  immoral,  does  not  seem  so  in  the  eyes  of  a 


CHAP.  VIII 


FAMILY  LIFE 


151 


primitive  people  ; on  the  contrary,  the  slave  feels  it  as  a disgrace  if  she 
does  not  “ find  favour  ” in  the  sight  of  her  lord.  Such  were  the  views  of 
marriage  which  were  held  in  ancient  Egypt.  One  woman  alone  was  the 
legitimate  wife  of  the  husband,  “ his  dear  wife,”  “ the  lady  of  the  house  ” ; 
yet  when  we  obtain  a glimpse  into  the  interior  of  a well-to-do  household, 
we  find  also  “ beautiful  singers  ” and  other  attendants  in  the  “ house  of 
the  women.”  The  relationship  between  husband  and  wife  appears  to  us  at 
all  times  to  have  been  faithful  and  affectionate.  When  they  are  repre- 
sented together,  we  frequently  see  the  wife  with  her  arm  tenderly  round 
her  husband’s  neck,  the  children  standing  by  the  side  of  their  parents,  or 
the  youngest  daughter  crouching  under  her  mother’s  chair.1  The  wife  helps 
her  husband  to  superintend  the  household  ; 2 she  and  the  children  look  on 
while  he  is  netting  birds,3  or  she  accompanies  him  in  his  boating  expedi- 
tions for  sport  through  the  swamps.4  The  inscriptions  of  the  Old  Empire 
praise  the  wife  who  is  “ honoured  by  her  husband,” 5 and  the  old  book 
of  wisdom  of  the  governor  Ptahhotep,  declares  him  to  be  wise  who 
“ founds  for  himself  a house,  and  loves  his  wife.” b How  deeply  affec- 
tionate a marriage  might  be  is  shown  by  the  touching  confessions  of  a 
widower,  which  have  been  preserved  to  us  in  a Leyden  papyrus  of  late 
date.  After  the  death  of  his  wife  ‘Anch’ere,  he  fell  ill  and  a magician 
seems  to  have  told  him  that  it  was  his  wife  who  sent  him  this  misfortune  ; 
he  then  wrote  a sorrowful  letter  to  the  “ wise  spirit  ” of  ‘Anch’ere  and  laid 
it  upon  her  tomb  in  the  hope  of  propitiating  her.  He  complains  : “ What 
evil  have  I done  to  thee,  that  I should  find  myself  in  this  wretched  state. 
What  then  have  I done  to  thee,  that  thou  shouldest  lay  thy  hand  upon 
me,  when  no  evil  has  been  done  to  thee  ? From  the  time  when  I became 
thy  husband  till  now — have  I done  anything  which  I had  to  hide  from 
thee?  . . . Thou  didst  become  my  wife  when  I was  young,  and  I was 
with  thee.  I was  appointed  to  all  manner  of  offices,  and  I was  with  thee  ; 
I did  not  forsake  thee  nor  cause  thine  heart  any  sorrow.  . . . Behold, 
when  I commanded  the  foot  soldiers  of  Pharaoh  together  with  his  chariot 
force,  I did  cause  thee  to  come  that  they  might  fall  down  before  thee, 
and  they  brought  all  manner  of  good  things  to  present  to  thee  . . . 
When  thou  wast  ill  with  the  sickness  which  afflicted  thee,  I went  to  the 
chief  physician,  and  he  made  thee  thy  medicine,  he  did  everything  that 
thou  didst  say  he  should  do.  When  I had  to  accompany  Pharaoh  on  his 
journey  to  the  south,  my  thoughts  were  with  thee,  and  I spent  those  eight 
months  without  caring  to  eat  or  to  drink.  When  I returned  to  Memphis, 

I besought  Pharaoh  and  betook  myself  to  thee,  and  I greatly  mourned 
for  thee  with  my  people  before  my  house.' 

Polygamy  was  quite  the  exception,  we  rarely  find  two  wives  ruling  in 
a house  at  the  same  time  ; there  are,  however,  a few  instances  at  different 

1 E.g.  L.  D. , ii.  10  b.  2 L.  D.,  ii.  13. 

3 Mar.  Mon.  div.,  17.  4 L.  D.,  ii.  130.  Wilk.,  ii.  107. 

0 R.  J.  H.,  82  ; Mar.  Mast.,  308,  and  other  examples.  6 Prisse,  10,  8. 

' Leyden,  371  ; a better  edition  by  Maspero,  Etud.  egypt.,  p.  143  ff.  The  above  follows  the 
latter  in  as  far  as  this  difficult  text  can  be  translated  with  tolerable  certainty. 


152 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


periods.  Amony,  the  “ great  man  of  the  south,”  who  probably  died  at  the 
beginning  of  the  reign  of  Amenemhe't  II.,  had  two  wives.  One  Nebet- 
sochet-ent-Re‘  (or  as  she  was  generally  called,  Nebet),  may  have  been  his 
niece  ; she  bore  him  two  sons  and  five  daughters  ; by  the  other,  Hnut,  he 
had  certainly  three  daughters  and  one  son.  A curious  circumstance 
shows  us  that  the  two  wives  were  friends,  for  the  lady  Nebet-sochet-ent- 
Re‘  called  her  second  daughter  Hnut,  and  the  lady  Hnut  carried  her  courtesy 
so  far  as  to  name  all  her  three  daughters  Nebet-sochet-ent-Re‘. 1 2 We 
meet  with  the  same  custom  a century  later,  and  indeed,  as  it  appears,  in  a 
lower  class.  One  of  the  thieves  of  the  royal  tombs  possessed  two  wives 
at  the  same  time,  the  “lady  Taruru  and  the  lady  Tasuey,  his  other  second 

• r 2 

wire. 

Royal  double  marriages  frequently  occur  ; e.g.  Ramses  II.  had  two 
great  “royal  consorts,”  Nefret-’ere-mer-en-mut  and  ’Eset-nofret,  and  when 
he  concluded  his  treaty  with  the  Cheta  king,  he  brought  the  daughter  ot 
that  monarch  also  home  to  Egypt  as  his  wife.  Political  reasons  doubtless 
led  to  this  third  marriage  ; the  union  with  the  Princess  Ra‘-ma‘-uer-nofru 
was  the  seal  of  the  bond  of  friendship  with  her  father,  and  the  Pharaoh  could 
give  no  lower  place  to  the  daughter  of  his  mighty  neighbour  than  that  of  his 
legal  wife.  Similar  motives  also  probably  led  to  double  marriages  amongst 
private  individuals  ; as  we  have  seen  above,  many  daughters  of  rich  men 
in  Egypt  possessed  valuable  rights  of  inheritance  in  their  father’s  property. 
The  history  of  one  of  the  nomarch  families  of  Beni  Hasan  gives  us  a 
case  in  point.  Chnemhotep,  son  of  Neher’e,  with  whom  we  had  so  much 
to  do  in  the  previous  chapter,  owed  the  possession  of  the  Nome  of  the 
Gazelle  to  the  fortunate  marriage  of  his  father  with  the  heiress  of  the  prince 
of  that  house.  In  order  to  secure  the  same  good  fortune  for  his  children, 
he  married  Chety,  the  heiress  of  the  Nome  of  the  Jackal,  and,  in  fact, 
through  this  marriage,  his  son,  Nacht,  succeeded  later  to  this  province. 
But  though  Chety  was  treated  with  all  the  respect  due  to  her  high  rank 
as  his  “ beloved  wife,”  and  as  “ lady  of  the  house,”  and  though  her  three 
sons  alone  were  called  the  “ great  legitimate  sons  of  the  prince,”  yet  the 
love  of  Chnemhotep  seems  previously  to  have  been  bestowed  upon  a lady 
of  his  household,  the  “ mistress  of  the  treasury,  T'atet.”  Contrary  to 
former  custom,  Chnemhotep  caused  this  lady  and  her  two  sons,  Neher’e 
and  Chnemhotep,  the  “sons  of  the  prince,”  to  be  represented  in  his  tomb, 
immediately  behind  his  official  family.3  She  also  accompanies  him  in 
his  sporting  expeditions,  though  she  sits  behind  Chety,  and  does  not  wear 
as  beautiful  a necklet  as  the  legitimate  wife.4  At  the  funeral  festival  of 
the  same  Chnemhotep,  we  meet  with  Chety  and  T'atet  in  a covered  boat 
with  the  “ children  of  the  prince  and  the  women,”  guarded  by  two  old 
servants  of  the  princely  court.5  There  is  no  doubt  that  these  women 
belong  to  the  harem  of  the  prince,  to  the  “ house  of  the  secluded,”  as  they 

1 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  627.  A similar  case  of  this  period,  ib.  586.  But  of  the  three  women,  ib. 

1 16 1,  two  are  stated  to  be  “ former ,”  and  therefore  descend  from  former  marriages. 

2 A.  Z.,  1S73,  40.  3 L.  D.,  ii.  128.  132.  4 L.  D.,  ii.  130.  5 L.  D.,  ii.  126. 


VIII 


FAMILY  LIFE 


153 


were  wont  to  say.  The  harem  is  rarely  mentioned  in  the  tombs,  yet 
doubtless  at  all  times  it  existed  as  one  of  the  luxuries  of  the  rich.  We 
have  already  (p.  74),  spoken  of  the  royal  house  of  women,  which  was 
strictly  guarded.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  inmates  to  cheer  Pharaoh  by 
songs,1  and  the  ladies  of  private  harems  had  also  to  be  skilled  in  similar 
accomplishments  ; in  the  tomb  of  the  courtier  T’y,  of  the  fifth  dynasty,  we 
see  the  ladies  of  the  harem  dancing  and  singing  before  their  master.' 


We  have  also  a picture  of 
the  harem  under  the  New 
Empire.  In  a tomb  at  Tell 
el  Amarna,  belonging  to  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  dy- 
nasty, a distinguished  priest 
called  ’Ey  has  caused  his 
house  to  be  represented.3 
After  passing  through  the 
servants’  offices,  the  store 
rooms,  the  great  dining  hall, 
the  sleeping  room,  and  the 
kitchen,  at  the  further  end 
of  a piece  of  ground,  the 
visitor  came  to  two  build- 
ings turned  back  to  back 


ONE  OF  THE  TWO  HOUSES  FOR  WOMEN  BELONGING  TO 
(after  L.  D. , iii.  106  a). 


and  separated  by  a small 
garden.  These  were  the 
women’s  apartments,  ’Ey’s 
harem,  inhabited  by  the 
women  and  children.  A 
glance  shows  us  how  the  inmates  were  supposed  to  occupy  themselves  ; 
they  are  represented  eating,  dancing,  playing  music,  or  dressing  each 
other’s  hair  ; the  store  rooms  behind  were  evidently  full  of  harps,  lutes, 
mirrors,  and  boxes  for  clothes.  The  possession  of  such  a harem  would, 
of  course,  be  restricted  to  men  of  the  upper  class,  for  the  same  reason  as 
it  is  in  the  East  at  the  present  day — on  account  of  the  expense. 

We  do  not  know  what  formalities  were  necessary  for  the  conclusion 
of  a legal  marriage  in  Egypt,  or  to  “ found  for  oneself  a house,”  4 as  the 
Egyptians  said  ; there  were  probably,  as  in  Greek  and  Christian  times, 
formal  marriage  contracts.  It  may  be  also  that  it  was  customary,  as  in 
later  times,  to  have  the  “year  of  eating,”  the  first  year  of  probation,  after 
which,  by  the  payment  of  a certain  sum  of  money,  the  marriage  might  be 
annulled.  1 here  existed  also  another  custom  foreign  to  our  ideas,  the 
marriage  with  a sister  ; this  became  common  in  Egypt  during  the  Ptolemaic 
and  Roman  periods.  Most  of  the  Ptolemies  married  their  sisters,  and 
under  the  Emperor  Commodus  two-thirds  of  all  the  citizens  of  Arsi 


1 Mar.  Mast.,  138  f. 


2 Brugsch,  Graberwelt,  8 1 , 83. 

4 Frisse,  10,  8 ; L.  D.,  iii.  12  d. 


3 L.  D.,  iii.  106  a. 


154 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


had  done  the  same.1  Marriage  with  a sister  shocks  our  moral  sense,  but 
seemed  most  natural  to  the  Egyptians,  just  as  in  modern  Egypt  marriage 
with  a cousin  is  considered  to  be  most  sensible  and  right.  The  gods  set 
an  example  in  point  ; the  brothers  Osiris  and  Set  having  married  their 
sisters,  Isis  and  Nephthys. 

In  the  royal  family  of  the  eighteenth  dynasty,  we  find  that  A‘hmose- 
Nefert-’ere  married  her  brother,  A‘hmose ; a lady  named  A'hmose  was 
consort  to  her  brother  Thothmes  I.,  and  ‘Ar‘at  to  her  brother,  Thothmes 
IV.,  and  so  on.2  In  the  inscriptions  of  all  ages  we  often  meet  with  the 
words  “ his  beloved  sister,”  where  we  should  expect  the  words  “ his  beloved 
wife.”  It  is  impossible  that  all  these  passages  should  refer  to  unmarried 
ladies  keeping  house  for  their  bachelor  brothers  ; “ thy  sister,  who  is  in 
thine  heart,  who  sits  near  thee  ” 3 at  the  feast,  or  “ thy  beloved  sister  with 
whom  thou  dost  love  to  speak,”  4 these  ladies  must  stand  in  a closer  rela- 
tionship to  the  man.  No  other  explanation  also  is  possible  of  the  fact  that 
two  stone  masons,  who  directed  the  work  in  the  quarries  of  Hamamat, 
each  had  “ his  sister  ” with  him.5  Surely  two  old  maids  could  not  have 
had  the  touching  affection  to  follow  their  brothers  into  this  terrible 
hot  desert. 

At  the  same  time  it  is  probable  that  these  sisters  were  not  all  really 
married  to  their  brothers,  as  Lessing’s  Just  very  rightly  remarks,  “there 
are  many  kinds  of  sisters.”  In  the  Egyptian  lyrics  the  lover  always 
speaks  of  “ my  brother  ” or  “ my  sister,”  and  in  many  cases  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  sister  signifies  his  “ beloved,”  his  mistress.  A stele  in 
the  Berlin  museum  6 tells  us  for  instance  that  a certain  Amenemheb  wor- 
shipped in  the  temple  of  Osiris,  accompanied  by  his  mother  and  his  seven 
sisters  ; the  latter  were  probably  the  seven  ladies  of  his  harem.  We  know 
that  in  late  Roman  time  laxer  forms  of  union  were  substituted  for  the  strict 
indissoluble  tie  of  marriage,  but  probably  many  Egyptians  of  earlier  ages 
preferred  to  enter  into  a loose  bond  with  a “ sister  ” rather  than  conclude 
a formal  marriage  with  a wife.7  This  state  of  affairs  appears  to  have  been 
very  common  amongst  the  lower  classes.  We  happen  to  have  two  com- 
plaints presented  by  five  labouring  women  ; of  four  it  is  said  that  they 
“ live  with  ” such  and  such  a workman,  of  one  only  that  she  is  the  wife 
of  her  husband.8 

The  moral  condition  of  the  “ company  of  workmen,”  the  Egyptian 
proletariat,  appears  to  have  been  very  low  ; it  seems  to  have  been  a 

1 Cp.  Wilcken,  Arsinoit.  Steuerprofess.  (Reports  of  the  Royal  Prussian  Ak.  d.  Wiss.,  1883,  p. 
9°3-) 

2 It  has  been  conjectured  from  the  titles  of  the  daughters  of  Ramses  II.  that  this  king  married 
his  own  daughters.  This  is  however  an  error,  for  every  princess  at  her  birth  received  the  title  of 
“ royal  consort.”  See  Maspero,  Guide,  p.  342. 

3 A.  Z.,  1873,  60.  4 After  Wilk.,  iii.  pi.  lxvii.  5 L.  D.,  ii.  138  b.  6 Nr.,  2091. 

7 Wiedemann  (Hierat.,  Texts,  p.  16)  also  conjectures  that  the  term  sister  indicates  a form  of 
marriage.  lie  thinks  that  the  expression  refers  to  the  probationary  marriage.  With  this  I 
cannot  agree. 

8 Tur.,  47,  8 ; Salt,  2,  2-3.  The  word  hbstty  (literally,  she  who  clothes  her  husband)  may 
mean  mistress.  A.  Z.,  1873,  39-  The  men  are  called  their  “husbands.” 


VIII 


FAMILY  LIFE 


155 


common  crime  amongst  the  workmen  to  “ assault  strange  women.”  1 We 
cannot  shut  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  the  social  principles  of  the  Egyptians 
on  this  point  were  almost  as  lax  as  those  of  classic  antiquity.  No  reason- 
able being  would  take  offence  at  the  naivete  with  which  things  are  spoken 
of,  or  drawn  as  common  signs  in  writing,  which,  according  to  our  modern 
feelings,  ought  to  be  carefully  hidden.  On  the  other  hand,  when  we  see 
the  series  of  obscene  pictures,  drawn  and  annotated  by  a caricaturist  of 
the  twentieth  dynasty,'  and  when  we  think  that  this  book  was  found  in  a 
tomb,  we  are  shocked  at  the  morality  of  a nation  which  could  supply  the 
deceased  with  such  literature  for  the  eternal  journey.  Finally,  what  can 
we  say  when  an  ancient  sacred  book  3 describing  the  life  of  the  deceased 
Pharaoh  in  bliss,  assures  him,  with  the  addition  of  some  words  we 
cannot  quite  understand,  that  in  heaven  he  will  “ at  his  pleasure  take  the 
wives  away  from  their  husbands.” 

There  were  of  course  plenty  of  women  who  did  not  belong  to  “ good 
women  ” 4 (that  is  to  the  respectable  class)  ; as  in  other  countries  of  an- 
tiquity, these  women  were  often  those  whose  husbands  had  left  them,  and 
who  travelled  about  the  country.  The  strange  woman  was  therefore  always 
a suspicious  character  ; “ beware,”  says  the  wise  man,'3  “of  a woman  from 
strange  parts,  whose  city  is  not  known.  When  she  comes  do  not  look  at 
her  nor  know  her.  She  is  as  the  eddy  in  deep  water,  the  depth  of  which  is 
unknown.  The  woman  whose  husband  is  far  off  writes  to  thee  every  day. 
If  no  witness  is  near  her  she  stands  up  and  spreads  out  her  net : O ! 
fearful  crime  to  listen  to  her  ! ” Therefore  he  who  is  wise  avoids  her  and 
takes  to  himself  a wife  in  his  youth  ; 6 first,  because  a man’s  own  house  is 
“the  best  thing”;1  secondly,  because  “ she  will  present  thee  with  a son 
like  unto  thyself.”  s It  was  considered  the  greatest  happiness  to  possess 
children,  and  the  relationship  between  parents  and  children  offers  us  a 
delightful  picture  of  Egyptian  family  life. 

“ Thou  shalt  never  forget  what  thy  mother  has  done  for  thee,”  teaches 
the  wise  ’Eney,  “ she  bare  thee  and  nourished  thee  in  all  manner  of  ways. 
If  thou  forgettest  her,  she  might  blame  thee,  she  might  ‘lift  up  her  arms 
to  God,  and  He  would  hear  her  complaint.’  After  the  appointed  months 
she  bare  thee,  she  nursed  thee  for  three  years.  She  brought  thee  up,  and 
when  thou  didst  enter  the  school,  and  wast  instructed  in  the  writings,  she 
came  daily  to  thy  master  with  bread  and  beer  from  her  house.”  9 

The  esteem  which  the  son  felt  for  his  mother  was  so  great  that  in  the 
tombs  of  the  Old  Empire,  the  mother  of  the  deceased  is  as  a rule 
represented  there  with  the  wife,  while  the  father  rarely  appears.  On  the 
funerary  stelae  of  later  times  also,  it  is  the  usual  custom  to  trace  the  descent 
of  the  deceased  on  the  mother’s  side,  and  not,  as  we  usually  do,  on  that  of 
the  father.  We  read  of  “ Ned'emu-sneb,  born  of  Sat-Hathor  ; of  Anhor, 

1 Salt,  2,  2 ff.  Tur.,  47,  8,  ib.  57,  5 f.  2 An  example  may  be  found,  Tur.,  145. 

3 Unas,  629.  4 Tur.,  47,  8. 

5 Pap.  de  Bout,  i.,  16,  13  fT.  6 Pap.  de  Boul.,  i.  16,  1 ff. 

7 Golenischeff,  Conte  egypt.,  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Berlin  Oriental  Congress,  ii.  104. 

8 Pap.  de  Boul.,  ib.  9 Pap.  de  Boul.,  i.  20,  17  ff. 


156 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


born  of  Neb-onet,  or  of  Sebekreda,  born  of  Sent,”  but  who  were  the  respec- 
tive fathers  we  are  not  told,  or  they  are  only  mentioned  incidentally.  It 
is  possible  that  this  strange  custom  and  the  similar  custom  in  East  Africa, 
may  have  arisen  from  the  belief  that  a child’s  birth  can  be  proved  from  the 
mother's  side  only,  the  father  must  be  always  supposititious.  The  necessary 
consequence  of  this  belief  follows  ; and  to  this  day  amongst  the  nobility  of 
the  tribes  of  the  Tuarek,  the  dignity  of  chief  is  inherited  not  by  his  son  but 
by  the  son  of  his  sister  ; 1 it  is  considered  as  more  certain  that  the  sister  of 
the  deceased  belongs  to  the  race  of  the  chieftain  than  that  the  son  of  the 
chieftain  is  his  own.  It  appears  that  a similar  custom  as  to  the  inheritance 
in  noble  families  prevailed  in  ancient  Egypt,  but  instead  of  the  son  of 
the  sister,  the  son  of  the  eldest  daughter  was  the  heir.  We  have  already 
mentioned  (p.  92),  that  under  the  Middle  Empire  the  nomes  passed  from 
one  family  to  another  through  heiresses  ; thus  he  who  married  an  heiress 


( 


as  she  was  called),  would  gain  for  his  son  the  inheritance  of 


his  father-in-law.  In  the  older  period  we  meet  these  hereditary  princes, 


□ rp‘ate,  at  every  turn  ; they  evidently  formed  the  highest  aristocracy. 

Even  in  these  families,  however,  the  inheritance  did  not  always  pass  to  the 
son  of  the  daughter,  we  have  contemporary  instances  of  its  passing,  as  is 
more  natural  to  our  minds,  directly  to  the  son  himself.  Thus  Nacht 
inherited  the  town  of  Men‘at  Chufu  from  his  father;  Amony  inherited  the 
Nome  of  the  Gazelle  in  the  same  way,  and  Dhut-hotep  inherited  the  Nome 
of  Bersheh  from  his  father,  Gay.  Yet  in  spite  of  all  exceptions  the  institu- 
tion mentioned  above  must  be  considered  as  an  old-established  custom. 
So  much  was  it  part  of  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the  nation,  that  the  “ father 
of  his  mother  ” was  considered  the  natural  protector  of  a rising  youth. 

If  an  official  succeeded  in  a brilliant  career,  it  was  the  maternal  grand- 
father who  took  the  most  interest : “ When  he  is  placed  at  the  head  of 
the  court  of  justice,  then  the  father  of  his  mother  thanks  God.”2  Under 
the  new  Empire  we  hear  of  a young  officer  who  is  received  into  the  royal 
stables,  “ for  the  sake  of  the  father  of  his  mother,”  and  when  obliged  to  go 
to  the  wars,  he  “ gave  his  property  into  the  charge  of  the  father  of  his 
mother.”  3 

Nevertheless  these  beliefs  and  customs  were  not  able  to  disturb  the 
natural  relationship  of  father  and  son.  On  the  contrary,  at  all  periods  it 
was  the  heartfelt  wish  on  every  father’s  part  that  he  should  leave  his 
office  to  his  son,”  that  “ his  child  should  sit  in  his  chair  after  he  was  gone  ;4 
it  was  also  the  son’s  sacred  duty  “ to  cause  his  father’s  name  to  live.”  In 
both  particulars,  the  gods  had  left  an  example  for  men  of  all  times  ; Horus 
had  avenged  his  deceased  father  Osiris,  and  justified  his  name  against  the 


1 Hanoteau,  Grammaire  de  la  langue  Tamachek,  p.  15.  2 Sail.  2,  II,  3. 

3 An.,  3,  6,  4,  7.  Cp.  also  L.  D.,  iii.  12  d.,  where  the  “son  of  the  daughter”  endows  the  tomb 

to  the  “father  of  his  mother.” 

4 Stele  of  Nebpu-Usertsen  in  the  Brit.  Mus.  (L.  A.),  and  other  similar  instances. 


VIII 


FAMILY  LIFE 


15  7 


accusations  of  Set,  for  he  himself  had  ascended  the  “ throne  of  his  father,” 
and  had  put  the  Atef  crown  of  his  father  on  his  own  head. 

A father  could  not  do  very  much  to  insure  that  his  son  should  succeed 
him,  Pharaoh  had  to  decide  that  matter  with  his  counsellors,  but  they  (if 
they  were  piously  inclined),  considered  it  their  duty  as  far  as  possible  to 
follow  the  dictates  of  this  pious  claim,  and  to  “ place  every  man  on  the 
throne  of  his  father.”  1 The  duty  of  the  son  was  the  easier  to  fulfil,  on 
account  of  the  manner  in  which  he  had  to  cause  his  father’s  name  to  live  : 
viz.  to  maintain  his  tomb  and  to  offer  the  necessary  sacrifices  there  on 
festival  days.  More  than  one  pious  son  assures  us  in  his  autobiography  that 
he  had  fulfilled  these  sacred  duties  ; e.g.  the  nomarch  Chnemhotep  relates  : 
“ I have  caused  the  name  of  my  father  to  increase,  and  have  established 
the  place  for  his  funeral  worship  and  the  estate  belonging  thereto.  I have 
accompanied  my  statues  {i.e.  those  of  the  family  on  days  of  procession)  into 
the  temple.  I have  brought  to  them  their  offerings  of  pure  bread,  beer, 
oil,  and  incense.  I have  appointed  a funerary  priest,  and  endowed  him 
with  land  and  labourers.  I have  established  offerings  for  the  deceased  on 
every  festival  of  the  Necropolis.” 2 These  duties  towards  the  deceased 
descended  in  direct  line  to  the  head  of  the  family,  but  at  the  same  time 
the  obligation  rested  on  the  other  members,  even  of  later  generations  ; they 
also  had  to  keep  up  the  established  worship,  and  to  honour  their  ancestors 

(their  nobles  3 as  they  were  called)  on  festival  days.  The  Pharaohs 

especially  had  to  honour  their  ancestors,  “ the  forefathers  of  the  king.” 
In  spite  of  this  reverence  for  their  ancestors,  we  doubt  whether,  with  the 
exception  of  the  royal  family,  there  existed  much  family  pride  amongst 
the  ancient  Egyptians.  It  is  well  known  from  the  inscriptions  in  the 
Egyptian  tombs,  that  nothing  that  was  adapted  to  increase  the  fame  of 
the  deceased  would  be  lightly  passed  over  in  silence.  Yet  amongst  the 
numerous  inscriptions  of  the  Old  and  Middle  Empire,  we  rarely  find  any 
praise  of  the  famous  ancestors  of  the  deceased  ; as  a remarkable  exception 
a high  priest  of  Abydos  boasts  that  he  had  built  his  tomb  “ in  the  midst 
of  those  of  his  fathers  to  whom  he  owed  his  being,  the  nobles  of  ancient 
days.”  4 The  family  of  the  deceased  is  scarcely  spoken  of,  even  the  grand- 
father being  rarely  mentioned.5  When  the  deceased  was  descended  from 
a king,  he  tells  posterity  of  his  genealogy  ; but  this  is  an  exceptional 
case,  e.g.  in  one  of  the  tombs  of  the  Old  Empire,  in  the  place  where  the 
name  of  the  deceased  is  usually  given,  we  find  this  genealogy.6 

“ The  king  Snefru. 

His  great  legitimate  daughter  Nefretkau. 

Her  son,  Neferma'at,  the  high  treasurer. 

His  son,  Snefru-ch‘af,  the  high  treasurer,  priest  of  Apis,  nearest  friend 

1 Louvre,  C.  26.  2 L.  D.,  ii.  124,  81  ff.  3 A.  Z.,  1882,  168. 

1 Leyden,  v.  4 (L.  A.) 

Louvre,  C.  170.  Stele  of  an  Amenemhe‘t,  son  of ’Entef,  son  of  Kemse,  of  the  12th  year  of  Amen- 
emhe't  II.  (L.  A.)  ; Leyden,  v.  3 (L.  A.),  the  grandfather  is  mentioned,  but  his  name  is  not  given. 

6 L.  D.,  ii.  i6  = R.  J.  H.,  64. 


1 58 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


of  the  king,  prince,  belonging  to  the  town  Nechent,  belonging  to  the 
town  Pe. 

Snefru-ch‘af  was  therefore  a descendant  of  King  Snefru,  the  gene- 
alogy being 

Snefru  — Wife  ? 

T~ 

Husband  ? — The  lady  Nefretkau. 


Neferma'at  — Wife  ? 


Snefru-ch'af. 

We  see  from  the  defectiveness  of  this  genealogy,  in  which  even  the 
name  of  the  grandfather  is  not  given,  how  little  Snefru-ch'af  thought  of 
his  family  history  ; the  only  fact  that  interested  him  was  that  he  was 
related  to  a Pharaoh.  The  same  holds  good  in  later  times  ; it  is  always 
the  individual  who  is  spoken  of,  very  seldom  the  race  or  family.1  It  is  only 
during  the  latest  epoch  of  Egyptian  history,  in  the  times  of  the  Ethiopian 
kings,  of  the  Psammetichi  and  of  the  Persians,  when  people  gloried  in  the 
remembrance  of  the  former  greatness  of  the  nation,  that  we  meet  with 
complete  genealogical  trees  ; it  was  natural  that  at  this  period  men  should 
be  glad  if  possible  to  boast  of  direct  descent  from  an  official  of  king 
Ramses. 

Another  circumstance  confirms  the  above  statement.  In  the  course 
of  generations,  a nation  possessing  genealogical  sense  unconsciously 
forms  surnames,  even  when  they  only  consist  of  vague  appellations,  such 
as  are  used  by  the  old  Beduin  families.  There  is  no  trace  of  such  names 
amongst  the  Egyptians,  not  even  amongst  the  noble  families  of  the  Middle 
Empire.  We  reach  the  decadence  of  the  Egyptian  kingdom  before  we 
meet  with  even  a tendency  to  use  family  names  ; in  the  time  of  the 
foreign  Libyan  rulers  the  descendants  of  the  old  family  of  the  Pharaohs 
called  themselves  “ sons  of  King  Ramses,”  thus  forming  a race  of  the 
“ sons  of  Ramses,”  the  “ Ramessides.” 

Names  therefore  with  the  Egyptians  were  entirely  individual,  and  if 
we  may  say  so,  lack  historical  significance.  Notwithstanding  they  offer 
much  that  is  interesting,  and  a closer  study  of  them  will  reward  an 
attentive  student.  Names  were  of  course  subservient  to  fashion,  and 
very  few  were  in  common  use  at  all  periods,  though  the  ideas  they 
expressed  have  much  similarity. 

The  more  simple  names  indicate  briefly  the  bodily  or  intellectual 
qualities  of  the  bearer.  Thus  the  names  of  some  distinguished  men  of  the 
Old  Empire  are  Little , Young , or  Content , while  one  lady  is  called  simply 
the  Beautiful.  Under  the  Middle  Empire  we  meet  with  men  named 
Healthy  and  Strong , with  women  called  Beauty , Resembling,  Sweet , Verdant, 

1 A genealogy  of  seven  generations  of  painters  of  the  temple  of  Amon,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
18th  dynasty  ; Lieblein,  553.  A genealogy  up  to  the  great  grandfather  (Dyn.  19) ; ib.  888. 


VIII 


FA  MIL  Y LIFE 


09 


or  She  is  healthy  ; and  under  the  New  Empire  some  of  the  men  are  named 
Tall , Beautiful  of  Face,  and  the  ladies,  Strong  and  Large-headed}  Names 
of  animals  are  not  infrequently  used  : Ichneumon , Silurus,  Lion,  Wild  lion. 
Tadpole,  Daughter  of  the  crocodile,  Horse  ; and  under  the  New  Empire  we 
find  Tomcat  and  Kitten}  From  the  vegetable  world  we  have  the  female 
name  Beautiful  sycamore } Names  referring  to  the  good  reputation  of 

the  bearer  are  found,  eg.  Praised,  Beloved,  Loved  one,  Worthy  of  thanks, 
Beautiful  is  what  he  does  f these  are  naturally  very  numerous  amongst 
the  ladies.  We  not  only  find,  First  favourite.  Beautiful  mistress , Loving 
one , My  mistress  is  as  gold,  and  This  is  my  queen  ; but  also,  with  bold 
exaggeration,  Beloved  by  the  two  countries,  and  Ruler  of  the  two  countries } 
Numerous  names  at  all  times  are  evolved  from  family  affection,  and 
express,  often  in  touching  fashion,  the  joy  of  the  parents  over  their  child. 
Beautiful  day  and  Beautiful  morning ,6  are  in  remembrance  of  the  joyful 
day  of  a boy’s  birth  ; the  child  is  My  own,  or  the  Only  one,  the  parents  love 
him  as  Their  eyes,  and  he  is  Their  most  beautifid  or  Their  riches.  The  father 
says  of  him,  I have  wished  it,  he  is  Acceptable  and  Welcome.'  The  daughter 
is  called  Beautifid  as  her  father,  and  the  Ruler  of  her  father ; at  her  birth 
it  is  said  Beauty  comes,  and  at  the  birth  of  the  son  Riches  come } Those 
who  are  gone  live  again  in  the  children,  The  Brothers  live,  His  father  lives  ; 
and  mournfully  the  widower  says  to  the  baby,  Replace  her.  The  family  now 
survives,  the  Mothers  are  born  again  in  the  daughters,  and  His  name  lives 
through  them  ; ''  all  hopes  are  centred  on  the  son,  and  the  father  in  his 
mind’s  eye  already  sees  him  as  his  Protector,  the  Prince,  the  Chief,  or  he 
thinks  of  him  as  succeeding  him,  and  therefore  names  him,  even  in  his 
infancy,  Chief  of  the  mercenaries .10 

Religion,  as  a matter  of  course,  played  a great  part  in  this  affair  of 
name-giving, — men  liked  to  be  named  after  that  god  whom  their  family 
chiefly  served  ; women  desired  above  all  to  be  called  after  Hathor,  the 
goddess  of  love.  Some  of  these  religious  names  are  in  praise  of  the 
gods  ; eg.  the  following,  which  were  favourite  names  under  the  Old 
Empire  : Sokar  shines  with  spirit,  Ptah  acts  rightly,  Re ‘ is  beautiful,  Beauti- 
ful is  the  countenance  of  Ptah,  Re‘  is  content,  God  is  rich .u  They  may 

1 I give  a transcription  of  the  names,  and  indicate  the  periods  by  the  letters,  O : M : and  N : 
O : Sher’e,  ned'es,  ned'em-’eb,  nefert.  M : Sneb,  nechty,  nefru,  sent,  benr’et,  uad'et,  senebtese. 
N : Qa,  neferher,  t'enra,  ta-‘at-d'ad'a. 

2 O : het'es,  hu’a,  ma.  M : Ma-hesa,  hefner,  gef,  sat-’epa,  ht'or.  N : M’eu,  Myt-ser’eu. 

3 M : Neht-nefret. 

4 O : Hesy.  M : Mery,  meryt.  N : Nefer-sechru.  O : Nefer-’ert-nef. 

5 M:  H‘at-shepest.  N:  Hnut-nefret.  M:  rnerert,  nebt’e-m -nub,  hnut’e-pu,  meryt-taui. 

N : nebt-taui.  6 N : Hau-nefer.  M : Duat-nefret. 

7 N : Pay’e,  u'at’e.  M : Merte-sen.  N : Tasen-nefer.  O : D'efat-sen.  N : ‘ab-en’e,  nefert- 
’eu.  N : ’Ey-m-hotep. 

8 O : Nefret-en-ets.  M : Nebt-’et.  0 : ’Ey-nefer,  ’Ey-d'efa. 

9 O : Snu-‘anch.  M : ’Etf-‘anch,  deba-set,  mut,  renf-‘anch. 

10  O:  Saf.  N:  Pa-ser,  pa-hri,  pa-hri-pedt.  The  latter,  An.,  5,  1 1,  7 ff.,  as  chief  of  the 
mercenaries  and  his  son. 

11  O : Seker-ch‘a-bau,  Ptah-ch‘a-merut,  Ptah-nefer-’ert,  Ra'nofer,  Nefer-her-en-Ptah,  Ra‘hotep, 
Neter-user. 


i6o 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


also  express  thankfulness  or  trust  in  the  gods,  e.g.  the  old  names  of  Ptah 
causes  vie  to  live , Ainun  is  her  riches,  Belonging  to  Ptah,  Servant  of  Re‘, 
and  the  curious  one  of  Brother  of  Avion}  Names  of  the  latter  kind  are 
especially  numerous  in  the  time  of  the  Middle  Empire,  eg.  Son  of  Mont, 
daughter  of  Hathdr,  Comrade  of  Sobk,  Of  Avion,  The  gift  of  Anion  ; other 
favourite  names  give  glory  to  the  gods,  eg.  Avion  first,  Sobk  first,  or  Hathor 
first r During  the  religious  revival,  under  the  New  Empire,  there  was, 

of  course,  a superabundance  of  religious  names  ; many  follow  the  older 
forms,  e.g.  Given  by  the  bark  of  Osiris,  or  Avion  is  content,  Of  Set,  Of 
Hor ; others  are  disposed  in  new  forms  as,  Born  of  the  Moon,  Re1 2 3 4 5 6  gave 
him  birth,  Avion  in  the  desert,  Avion  at  the  feast,  Hor  in  the  bark,  Mut  in 
the  bark } These  new  names  have  rather  a peculiar,  we  might  almost 
say  a theological  character  ; they  express  religious  learning  rather  than 
simple  piety,  for  instance,  the  knowledge  as  to  which  gods  accompany  the 
sun-god  in  his  bark  in  the  heavens.  From  the  time  of  the  Middle 
Empire  every  one  bears  the  name  or  the  title  of  a god,  the  men  are 
called  Hor,  Chons,  Uennofre , or  Lord  of  the  gods,  women,  SccJicmt,  or  Lady 
of  Denderah } 

We  cannot  be  surprised  that  the  Egyptian  officials,  who  always  tried 
to  show  their  loyalty,  should  often  name  their  children  after  the  kings. 
Under  the  Old  Empire  we  find  combinations  such  as  Chafrt  lives,  Snefru 
is  beautiful , Pepy  endures,  Pepy  is  strong;  ''  under  the  New  Empire  those 
are  preferred  which  signify  the  piety  of  the  Pharaoh,  e.g.  Sety  in  the  house 
of  Thoth,  or  Nefer-ke-rel  in  the  house  of  Avion}  After  the  I ith  dynasty, 
however,  it  was  customary  to  give  sons  the  name  of  the  monarch  without 
further  addition,  as  well  as  the  prenomens  and  titles  of  the  king,  as  Shining 
in  Thebes,  the  Bull  with  the  understanding  heart,  and  even  titles  such  as, 
Lord  of  the  two  Countries,  and  Your  lord,  are  used  under  the  New  Empire.7 

This  custom  of  naming  the  children  after  the  Pharaoh  without  the  addi- 
tion of  any  epithet,  of  calling  the  children  Amony  when  an  Amony  was 
on  the  throne,  or  ’Entef  during  the  reign  of  an  ’Entef,  is  the  cause  of  great 
confusion.  The  kings  of  the  I ith  dynasty  were  either  ’Entef,  Amony, 
or  Mentuhotep,  and  these  names  survived  in  many  families  ; some  of  the 
kings  of  the  I 2th  dynasty  were  called  Amenemhe‘t,  others  Usertsen,  and  the 
great  courtiers  named  their  children  after  them.  Under  the  12th  dynasty, 
therefore,  these  five  names  meet  us  at  every  turn  ; for  instance,  out  of 

1 O : Ptah-s‘anchu’e,  Amend'efas,  Nsu-Ptah,  Hent-Re‘,  Sen-Amun.  Such  names  as  Sen-Amun, 
Hathor-sat,  etc.,  may  perhaps  be  elliptical,  and  be  understood  to  mean  : “the  brother  (given)  by 
Amon,”  “ the  daughter  (given)  by  Hathor,  etc. 

2 M : Sa-Ment'u,  Sat-Hathor,  Sebek-’ere,  Amony,  Amendadat,  Amenemhe't,  Sebekemhe't, 
Hathoremhe't. 

3 N : Neshemt-dadat,  Amenhotep,  Sety,  Hor’e,  ’E'ahmose,  Ra'messu,  Amen-em-’ent,  Amen- 
emheb,  Har-em-u’e,  Mut-em-u’e. 

4 M : Hor,  Chensu.  N : Uennofre,  Neb-nuteru,  Sechemt.  M : Nebt-’ent. 

5 O:  Cha‘fre-‘anch,  Snefru-Nofer,  Pepy-ded’e,  Pepy-necht. 

6 N : Sety-m-per-Dhoute,  Nefer-ke-re‘-em-per-Amun. 

7 N : Ch‘amueset,  Ka-men-’eb  ; Nebtauey,  Neb-seny — both  the  latter  are  elliptical  forms:  “he 
who  belongs  to  the  lord  of  the  two  countries.” 


VIII 


FAMILY  LIFE 


161 


twenty-seven  male  members  of  a family,  thirteen  are  called  Usertsen.1 
In  the  same  way  later  the  names  Ahmose  and  Amenhotep  continually 
occur  under  the  18th  dynasty,  and  that  of  Ramses  under  the  20th. 
Those  especially  well  disposed  (and  what  Egyptian  official  did  not  wish 
himself  to  be  thought  well  disposed)  seem  not  to  have  been  content  with 
naming  their  children  after  the  monarch,  but  to  have  re-named  them 
when  a new  Pharaoh  ascended  the  throne.  Thus  under  Usertsen  I.,  the 
“ chief  judge  and  governor”  was  called  after  that  monarch,  though  we  can 
scarcely  believe  that  the  first  official  of  the  kingdom  was  born  during  his 
reign.  It  is  far  more  likely  that  he  was  born  under  Amenemhe't,  and  bore 
some  other  name,  which  was  changed  to  the  royal  name  at  the  accession 
of  the  new  Pharaoh.2  We  meet  with  many  similar  cases. 

The  adoption  of  the  royal  name  must  doubtless  have  caused  much 
confusion  in  the  kingdom  ; but  this  confusion  must  have  been  still  greater 
at  the  courts  of  the  nomarchs  of  the  Middle  Empire  ; for  in  the  time  of 
the  1 2th  dynasty,  the  custom  arose  for  the  officers  of  the  household  of 
the  great  men  to  call  themselves  and  their  children  after  their  lord,  in  the 
same  way  as  the  state  officials  after  the  Pharaoh.  The  following  instance 
may  give  an  idea  of  the  incredible  confusion  which  was  the  result.  The 
province,  whose  governors  were  buried  at  Beni  Hasan,  was  governed  at 
the  beginning  of  the  time  of  the  Middle  Empire  (I  know  not  in  what 
order),  by  princes  bearing  the  names  of  Amony,  Chnemhotep,  Netruhotep, 
Chety,  Baqt’e,  Nacht  and  Neternacht.3  The  consequence  was  that  at  the 
court  of  the  Chnemhotep,  son  of  Neher’e,  whom  we  have  so  frequently 
mentioned,  two-thirds  of  all  the  officials  of  the  nome  bore  the  name  of 
this  prince.  Amongst  his  servants  there  were  at  least  eleven  of  the  name 
of  Chnemhotep,  nine  of  Neternacht,  four  of  Chety,  four  of  Baqt’e,  two  of 
Netruhotep,  two  of  Amony,  and  one  of  Neher’e.  One-third  only  bore 
names  after  their  own  pleasure. 

The  worst  element  in  this  confusion  remains  to  be  told  ; the  Egyptians 
often  went  as  far  as  to  give  brothers  or  sisters  the  same  name.  Thus 
S'abu,  high  priest  of  Memphis  under  the  Old  Empire,  named  his  second 
son  S'abu,  but  contented  himself  with  giving  to  the  four  others  the  name 
of  Ptahshepses.  His  eldest  son  and  successor  followed  his  example,  for 
he  called  at  least  two  of  his  sons  Ptahshepses,  and  a third  S‘abu.4  Under 
the  Middle  Empire  also  we  meet  with  a family  in  which  three  daughters 
were  called  Nebet-sochet-ent-Re‘,  and  there  are  many  similar  casesd 

In  order  to  distinguish  those  of  the  same  name  from  each  other,  nick- 
names or  pet  names  were  doubtless  provided  for  daily  life  ; the  inscriptions 
with  their  stiff  official  style  rarely  inform  us  what  these  were.  Under  the 
Old  Empire  the  son  was  often  distinguished  from  his  father  of  the  same 
name  by  the  addition  of  the  Little .6  In  time  double  names  were  formed 
from  these  nicknames,  and  the  great  lords  and  ladies  of  the  pyramid  age 

1 Louvre,  C.  170.  2 L.  D.,  ii.  122.  3 Cp.  their  tombs,  L.  D.,  ii.  142-143. 

4 R.  J.  It.,  94  ; Mar.  Mast.,  378.  It  is  doubtful  which  of  the  two  generations  is  the  older. 

5 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  627.  6 E.g.  Mar.  Mast.,  316,  325,  and  other  examples. 

M 


162 


THE  LAND  OF  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


often  bear  a “ little  name  ” as  well  as  a “ great  ” or  “ beautiful  name.1 2 
The  first  is  the  child’s  name  commonly  used,  as  Het'es  ; the  second  is 
a high-sounding  name  with  some  good  signification,  as  Sokar  shines  zvith 
spirit.  A certain  lady  Tepes  has,  for  instance,  the  additional  great  name 
of  Beautiful  is  the  peace  of  Hathor,  the  lady  Beb’e  Golden  peace , and  a 
certain  Heba  Beautiful  leader.  A lady  of  the  harem  is  called  Servant  of 
Rc‘,  as  vVell  as  Amiable.  In  later  times  also  we  often  meet  with  double 
names,  e.g.  Kay  Usertsen,  Usertsen  Senebsenebneb,  and  a nurse  Seneb- 
tese,  who  bears  the  additional  name  of  My  heaven  endures r 

Sometimes  in  order  to  give  an  individuality  to  a name  in  common 
use,  it  was  somewhat  changed.  Thus  with  the  children  of  the  above- 
mentioned  high  priest  S‘abu  and  Ptahshepses,  the  youngest  son  was  called 
by  the  pet  name  Ptahshep  J instead  of  Ptahshepses.  With  adults  also  we 
find  similar  familiar  abbreviations  of  long  names.  Pepy-ded’e,  Pepy  endures 
is  abbreviated  to  Ded’e,  endures}  Amendadat  and  Sebekdadau’e,  The  gift 
of  Avion  and  Sobk  bestows  me  often  become  Dadat  and  Dadau’e,  Gift  and 
Bestoivs  me  ; Nebet-sochet-ent-Re‘,  the  Mistress  of  the  fields  of  Rc\  is  cur- 
tailed to  Nebet,  Mistress , etc.5  Numerous  senseless  pet  names,  which 
have  come  down  to  us  from  the  time  of  the  Old  Empire,  are  probably 
abbreviations  of  much  older  names  ; such  are:  ’Es’e,  Ses’e,  ’Ess’e,  ’Et’e, 
Tet’e,  ’Ett’e,  ’Ep’e,  Pep’e,  ’Epp’e,  ’Eff’e,  Kek’e,  Beb’e,  T'eP’e  (they  were 
probably  pronounced  Atoti,  Apopi,1’  etc.)  With  other  nations  a name 
as  lisped  by  a child  is  often  used  as  a term  of  endearment  ; e.g.  the 
English  pet  names  of  Dick  or  Dicky  for  Richard,  Watt  and  Watty  for 
Walter,  Bob  or  Bobby  for  Robert.  Evidently  Bob  and  Bobby  answer 
to  Egyptian  forms  of  the  same  kind  ; for  instance,  in  later  times,  under 
the  New  Empire,  we  meet  with  names  such  as  T'ut'y,  T'ut’eu,  Tey, 
Naney,  Tepa,  Pepyu,  Papepe,  and  others. 

It  may  be  concluded,  from  what  we  have  said,  that  the  Egyptians 
attached  less  importance  to  names  than  other  nations  of  the  same  degree 
of  civilisation.  This  is  strange,  for  on  the  other  side  they  thought  much 
of  a name  enduring  to  posterity.  According  to  the  Egyptian  faith, 
one  could  do  nothing  better  for  any  one  than  by  inscriptions  and  repre- 
sentations to  “ cause  his  name  to  live,”  and  nothing  worse  than  to  allow 
it  to  perish.  The  Egyptians  zealously  endeavoured  to  root  out  and 
destroy  the  names  and  figures  of  people  they  hated  ; this  act  of  revenge 
was  common  at  all  periods,  and  was  practised  by  kings  as  well  as  by 
private  individuals.  Thus  we  find  in  a tomb  of  the  Old  Empire,  pre- 
served intact,  that  the  names  and  representations  of  two  of  the  sons  of 
the  deceased  have  been  carefully  chiselled  out,  evidently  according  to 
the  father’s  orders,  who,  after  the  building  of  his  tomb,  had  occasion  to 
be  displeased  with  these  sons.' 

A stele  from  Abydos,  which  is  now  in  the  museum  at  Leyden, 

1 Ren  nod'es,  ren‘a  and  ren  nofer.  E.g.  Mar.  Mast.,  74  ff.,  357,  360,  375,  400,436,  and  frequently. 

2 For  the  latter,  Louvre,  C.  13.  3 R.  J.  H.,  94  ; Mar.  Mast.,  378.  4 Mar.  Mast.,  401  f. 

5 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  627.  6 Cp.  Tt’e, "Adudis,  'Epepy  “ Airutfus.  7 Mar.  Mast.,  376. 


VIII 


FAMILY  LIFE 


163 


belonged  to  a very  distinguished  man,  the  “ hereditary  prince,  and  the 
prince,  the  nearest  friend  of  the  king,  the  high  priest  with  the  right  to 
wear  the  royal  apron,  the  judge  and  prophet  of  Ma‘at,  the  great  priest  of 
Osiris,”  etc.,  in  short,  to  a high  priest  of  Abydos.  In  his  youth  he  had 
held  a government  appointment  ; “ bearing  the  order  of  the  king,  he  had 
done  what  the  king  pleased,”  his  office  was  “famous  in  all  the  country” 
and  King  Usertsen  I.  “ set  him  amongst  his  friends,  because  he  was 
excellent  in  the  eyes  of  his  majesty.”  Finally,  he  succeeded  his  father  as 
high  priest  of  Abydos,  and  died  after  holding  this  office  for  twenty-four 
years.  There  is  nothing  in  the  long  inscription  to  show  us  that  any  cloud 
had  come  between  him  and  the  court,  and  yet  after  his  death  some- 
thing wrong  must  have  been  discovered  about  him,  or  some  enemy  of  his 
must  have  come  into  power,  for  his  name  has  been  so  carefully  erased  in 
the  two  places  where  it  formerly  stood  that  no  sign  of  it  can  be  read.1 II 

It  follows  as  a matter  of  course  that  the  Pharaohs  did  the  same  towards 
rival  kings  or  towards  those  predecessors  whom  they  disliked.  Many 
examples  could  be  given  : for  instance,  Thothmes  III.  caused  to  be  chipped 
out  all  the  names  and  figures  of  Chnemtamun  his  sister,  who  probably 
had  kept  him  in  tutelage  much  longer  than  was  right.  If  we  examine 
closely  the  mutilated  monuments  of  Queen  Chnemtamun  we  find  other 
injuries,  which  were  not  due  to  the  anger  of  her  brother  and  guardian. 
The  name  and  figure  of  the  god  Amon  is  carefully  erased  everywhere, 
evidently  by  the  heretic  king  Chuen’eten,  who  instituted  the  worship  of 
the  sun’s  disk,  and  throughout  his  reign  tried  consistently  to  strike  out 
the  name  of  Amon  in  all  the  temples  and  tombs  in  the  Nile  valley.  This 
fanatic  attempted  to  establish  the  worship  of  one  god,  in  order  that  his 
“ name  should  endure  for  ever  in  the  mouth  of  the  living.” 

The  mother  had  the  charge  of  the  child  during  its  infancy,  she  nursed 
it  for  three  years  and  carried  it  on  her  neck,1’ — this  corresponds  exactly 
to  the  custom  of  the  modern  Egyptians.  During  the  first  years  of  their 
childhood  the  boys,3  and  very  often  the  girls  also,4  went  nude.  A grand- 
son of  King  Chufu  was  content  with  nature’s  own  costume  even  when  he 
was  old  enough  to  be  a “ writer  in  the  house  of  books,”  i.e.  went  to  school.5 
Many  children  wore  the  short  plaited  lock  on  the  right  side  of  the  head, 
following  the  example  of  the  youthful  god  Horus,  who  was  supposed  to 
have  worn  this  side-lock.  I cannot  say  whether  all  children  of  a certain 
age  wore  this  lock,  or  whether  originally  it  was  worn  as  a mark  of  distinction 
by  the  heir,  as  the  pictures  of  the  Old  Empire  would  lead  us  to  believe.6 
It  is  also  uncertain  how  long  it  was  worn,  in  one  poem  the  “ royal  child 

I Leyden,  v.  4 (L.A.)  2 Pap.  de  Boul.,  i.  20,  17  f. 

3 O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  8,  11,  19,  20,  22,  23,  27,  etc.  N.  E.  : L.  D.,  iii.  10  b. 

4 Nude:  O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  10,  23,  54.  N.  E.  : L.  D.,  iii.  8b.  Clothed:  L.  D.,  ii.  27,  36. 

5 L.  D.,  ii.  23. 

II  Most  of  the  children  of  the  O.  E.  are  without  this  lock  ; it  appears,  L.  D.,  ii.  1 1,  23,  73  ; Diim. 
Res.,  8 ; Perrot,  p.  142.  A little  princess  of  the  N.  E.  : L.  D.,  iii.  8 b.  A full  grown  girl  in  the 
harem:  ib.  106  a.  A little  prince:  L.  D.,  iii.  10  b.  Under  the  twentieth  dynasty  the  royal 
children  usually  wear  a broad  band  instead  of  the  lock. 


164 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


with  the  lock  ” is  a “ boy  of  ten  years  old  ; ” 1 on  the  other  hand,  the  young 
king,  Merenre‘  (Dyn.  VI.),  wore  the  lock  all  his  life,2  and  the  royal  sons  of 

the  New  Empire  certainly  wore  it  even  in 
their  old  age.3 

The  years  of  childhood,  the  four  years 
in  which  each  was  a “ wise  little  one,”  4 i.e. 
a good  child,  were  spent  as  they  are  every- 
where all  over  the  world.  The  toys,  such  as 
the  naughty  crocodile,  the  good  little  man 
who  would  jump,  and  the  beautiful  dolls 
which  moved  their  arms,5  show  us  that  the 
little  Egyptian  girls  were  just  like  other 
children. 

There  were  flowers  also  and  pet  birds  in 
the  nursery  ; and  we  find  that  Sechentchak, 
the  above-mentioned  little  “ writer  in  the 
house  of  books,”  was  not  ashamed  to  take  a 
poor  hoopoo  about  with  him.0  Boyhood, 
the  time  of  education,  followed  the  period 
of  childhood,  which  under  the  New  Empire 
closed  with  the  fourth  year.7  The  school 
boy  had  also  his  proper  costume,  which  in  old 
times  seems  to  have  consisted  of  a girdle 
only.8  The  Egyptians  realised  that  it 
was  a father’s  duty  to  superintend  the 
education  of  their  children,  as  we  learn  from  the  favourite  dialogues  between 


I.  DOLL  IN  FORM  OF  OUR  “PIN- 
CUSHION DOLLS,”  WITH  LONG  HAIR 
(Brit.  Mus.  After  Wilk. , ii.  64. 

A similar  one  in  Berlin). 

2.  DOLL.  THE  HAIR  IS  GONE 

(Brit.  Mus.  After  Wilk. , ii.  64). 


CROCODILE  WITH  MOVABLE  JAW 
(Leyden.  After  Wilk. , ii.  64.  A similar  one  in  Berlin). 


a father  and  a son  contained  in  the  didactic  literature.  As  a matter  of 
fact,  even  at  this  tender  age,  the  children  of  the  upper  class  were  frequently 
sent  away  from  home  ; they  wrere  either  brought  up  in  the  palace  with 
the  royal  children,9  or  they  had  to  enter  the  school  belonging  to  one  of 
the  government  departments  to  prepare  for  their  official  career.10  Besides 
the  purely  scientific  instruction  of  which  we  shall  have  to  treat  in  the 

1 Inscrip,  of  Kuban,  1.  16.  2 Maspero,  Guide,  p.  347.  3 L.  D.,  iii.  166,  and  frequently. 

4 Inscription  of  the  high  priest  Bekenchons  at  Munich. 

5 Dolls  of  the  eleventh  dynasty,  of  wood  and  ivory,  with  movable  arms  : Maspero,  Guide,  p.  250. 

6 L.  D.,  ii.  23.  7 Inscription  of  the  high  priest  Bekenchons. 

8 Cp.  A.  Z. , 1882,  2,  and  the  passages  referred  to  there. 

9 Cp.  the  passages  referred  to  above,  p.  78. 

10  The  high  priest  Bekenchons,  for  instance,  was  from  his  fifth  to  his  fifteenth  year  assigned  to 
one  of  the  royal  stables. 


VIII 


FAMILY  LIFE 


165 


14th  chapter,  and  the  gymnastic  exercises  such  as  swimming;1  the 
school-course  consisted  above  all  in  the  teaching  of  ethics,  practical 
philosophy,  and  good  manners.  From  a book  edited  probably  in  the 
time  of  the  Middle  Empire,  but  written  under  king  ’Ess’e  (Dyn.  V.),2 
we  learn  how  a father  ought  to  instruct  his  son  : “ Be  not  proud  of 
thine  own  learning,  but  do  thou  take  counsel  with  all,  for  it  is  possible  to 
learn  from  all.  Treat  a venerable  wise  man  with  respect,  but  correct 
thine  equal  when  he  maintains  a wrong  opinion.  Be  not  proud  of  earthly 
goods  or  riches,  for  they  come  to  thee  from  God  without  thy  help. 
Calumnies  should  never  be  repeated  : messages  should  be  faithfully 
delivered.  In  a strange  house,  look  not  at  the  women  ; marry  ; give  food 
to  thy  household  ; let  there  be  no  quarrelling  about  the  distribution.  For 
the  rest,  keep  a contented  countenance,  and  behave  to  thy  superiors  with 
proper  respect,  then  shalt  thou  receive  that  which  is  the  highest  reward 
to  a wise  man  ; the  “ princes  who  hear  thee  shall  say : ‘ How  beautiful 
are  the  words  which  proceed  out  of  his  mouth.’  ” 3 


JOINTED  DOLL,  REPRESENTING  A SLAVE  CRUSHING  CORN 
(Leyden  Museum.  After  Wilk. , ii.  64). 


A similar  instruction  of  the  time  of  the  New  Empire  gives  still  more 
detailed  advice.  Be  industrious,  “ let  thine  eyes  be  open,  lest  thou  become 
a beggar  ; for  the  man  that  is  idle  cometh  not  to  honour.” 4 Be  not 
importunate  nor  indiscreet  ; “ enter  not  uninvited  into  the  house  of 
another ; if  he  bids  thee  enter  thou  art  honoured.  Look  not  around, 
look  not  around  in  the  house  of  another.  If  thine  eye  see  anything,  be 
silent  about  it,  and  relate  it  not  outside  to  others,  lest  if  it  be  heard,  it 
become  to  thee  as  a crime  worthy  of  death.5  Speak  not  too  much,  for 
men  are  deaf  to  the  man  of  many  words  ; be  silent  rather,  then  shalt  thou 
please,  therefore  speak  not.0  Before  all  things  guard  thy  speech,  for  “ a 
man’s  ruin  lies  in  his  tongue.'  Man’s  body  is  a storehouse,  full  of  all 
manner  of  answers.  Choose  therefore  the  right  one  and  speak  well,  and 
let  the  wrong  answer  remain  imprisoned  in  thy  body.”  s Behave  with 

1 Inscription  at  Siut : R.  J.  II.,  2S9,  6 = Mar.  mon.  div.,  68  d. 

- The  second  half  of  the  Pap.  Prisse.  3 Prisse,  19,  2-3.  4 Pap.  de  Boul.,  i.  18,  13  ff. 

0 lb.  16,  9 ff.  with  hypotheses.  G lb.  16,  17  f.  7 lb.  20,  9.  8 lb.  20,  9 ff. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP.  VIII 


1 66 


propriety  at  meals,  and  “ be  not  greedy  to  fill  thy  body.1  Eat  not 
bread  whilst  another  standeth  by,  unless  thou  shalt  lay  his  hand  on  the 
bread  also.  . . . One  is  poor,  another  is  rich,  but  bread  remains  to 
him  that  is  generous.  He  that  was  rich  in  the  year  that  is  past,  may 
even  in  this  year  become  a vagrant.”'2  Never  forget  to  be  respectful,  and 
“ do  not  sit  down  whilst  another  stands,  who  is  older  than  thou,  or  who 
holds  a higher  office  than  thou  dost.”  :i 

These  rules  for  good  conduct  are  enough  to  show  how  much  the 
higher  classes  thought  of  good  manners,  and  the  strict  formulae  of  letter 
writing  (which  we  shall  discuss  in  the  15th  chapter),  though  they  varied 
according  to  the  rank  and  position  of  the  correspondents,  show  us  that 
the  Egyptians  of  the  New  Empire  were  lovers  of  strict  etiquette.  The 
formalities  of  society  were  certainly  not  less  ceremonious  then,  than  those 
of  the  Mahommedan  inhabitants  of  Egypt  are  now. 

1 lb.  21,  7.  2 lb.  21,  3 ff.  From  the  context  the  word  is  supposed  to  be  vagrant. 

3 lb.  19,  10  ff. 


ISIS  WITH  THE  CHILD  HORUS. 
(Porcelain  statue  in  the  Berlin  Museum). 


restoration  of  A country  house  (after  the  picture  p.  176). 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  HOUSE 

In  speaking  of  the  architecture  of  ancient  Egypt,  our  minds  turn  involun- 
tarily to  those  wonderful  temples  and  tombs,  the  ruins  of  which  are  the 
glory  of  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  These  gigantic  buildings,  however,  form 
in  reality  an  exception  to  the  usual  style  of  building  in  Egypt,  where  the 
houses  were  as  slight  and  perishable  as  the  temples  were  strong  and 
eternal.  Instead  of  thick  walls,  the  houses  had  walls  of  Nile  mud  ; 
instead  of  gigantic  pillars,  pretty  wooden  supports  ; instead  of  stone  roofs, 
rafters  of  palm  trunks.  One  feature  alone  they  had  in  common,  the  rich 
colouring  which  adorned  every  part  of  the  house  as  well  as  of  the  temple. 
It  may  seem  surprising  that,  in  spite  of  the  great  skill  of  the  Egyptians 
in  building,  they  should  never  have  used  the  “eternal  stones”  for  their 
dwelling  houses.  The  Nile  mud  offers  however  such  an  easy  workable 
material,  that  for  buildings  which  were  not  to  endure  for  ever  it  would 
have  seemed  absurd  to  substitute  it  by  quarried  stone.  The  climate  also 
had  to  be  considered  ; a building  was  required  which  kept  off  the  violent  heat 
of  the  sun,  but  allowed  plenty  of  air  to  enter  everywhere  ; a solid  stone 
building  would  scarcely  have  been  pleasant  during  the  great  summer  heat 
of  Upper  Egypt.  A light  erection  with  small  airy  rooms,  hangings  of 
matting  over  the  windows,  standing  amongst  shady  trees,  and  if  possible 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAV. 


1 68 


model  IN  the  louvre  (after  Perrot-Chipiez). 


near  the  cool  water — -such  was  the  house  best  fitted  for  the  Egyptian 
climate,  and  such  was  the  house  built  by  the  ancient  Egyptians  at  all  periods. 

There  was  of  course  a great  difference  between  one  house  and  another. 
If  we  leave  on  one  side  the  houses  of  the  peasants  (they  lived  probably  in 

mud  - huts  like  the  modern 
fellahin)  the  house  of  a citizen 
living  with  a small  household 
in  the  narrow  streets  of  the 
town  would  perhaps  consist 
merely  of  a small  court  with  a 
few  rooms  at  the  back,  and  a 
flight  of  steps  leading  up  to 
the  flat  roof.  This  is  the  plan 
of  the  better  sort  of  village 
houses  in  Egypt  now,  and 
corresponds  with  some  small 
models  of  houses  in  our  museums,  though  the  latter  probably  represent 
store-houses  rather  than  dwelling-houses.1  The  illustration  below  some- 
what resembling  a box  gives  the  usual  character  of  these  small  dwelling- 
houses.  It  seems  to  represent  a house  with  thick  slanting  walls  of 
mud  replaced  by  thin  walls 
of  laths  below  the  window's  ; 
above  is  a small  upper  story 
open  to  the  flat  roof  in  front. 

A thick  pillar,  probably  of 
mud,  like  the  similar  supports 
in  modern  Egyptian  houses, 
forms  the  only  decoration  of 
the  little  house. 

On  the  other  hand,  the 
great  lord  who  lived  in  his  park 
outside  the  town  was  not  con- 
tent with  a building  of  this  sort ; 
he  wanted  a house  for  himself, 
another  for  his  wife,  another 
for  the  kitchen,  a reception 
hall  for  distinguished  guests,  a 
provision  house,  dwellings  for 
the  servants,  etc.  As  is  the 
case  now  in  the  East,  a palace 
of  this  kind  must  really  have 
constituted  a towm-quarter. 


MODEL  OF  A HOUSE.  UNKNOWN  PERIOD 
(Louvre.  After  Perrot-Chipiez). 


1 The  model  in  the  Louvre  certainly  represents  a granary  ; the  holes  in  the  top  are  to  pour  in  the 
corn.  In  the  court  of  the  one  in  the  Brit.  Mus.  (Wilk.,  i.  35 1 )>  a woman  pounding  corn  in  a 
mortar  ; it  was  formerly  full  of  corn.  A stove  is  in  the  court  of  the  one  in  the  Gizeh  Museum 
(Maspero  Guide,  p.  293  f.)  They  all  probably  represent  places  in  which  bread  might  be  prepared, 
and  this  renders  it  intelligible  why  they  put  these  models  in  the  tombs. 


IX 


THE  HOUSE 


169 


Unfortunately  it  is  now  almost  impossible  to  form  an  exact  picture  of 
the  appearance  of  an  ancient  Egyptian  town,  for  nothing  remains  of  the 
famous  great  cities  of  ancient  Egypt  except  mounds  of  rubbish  ; not  even 
in  Memphis  nor  in  Thebes  is  there  even  the  ruin  of  a house  to  be  found, 
for  later  generations  have  ploughed  up  every  foot  of  arable  land  for  corn. 
The  only  ruins  that  remain  are  those  of  the  town  “ Horizon  of  the 
Sun,”  1 built  for  himself  by  the  reformer  Chu-en-’eten,  and  destroyed  by 
violence  after  his  death  ; this  city  lay  outside  the  arable  country,  and 
therefore  it  was  not  worth  while  to  till  the  ground  on  which  it  had  stood. 
We  can  still  trace  the  broad  street  that  ran  the  whole  length  of  the  town 
which  was  about  three  miles  long  and  half  a mile  broad,  and  see  that  on 
either  side  of  the  street  were  large  public  buildings  with  courts  and 
enclosures.  It  is  impossible  to  trace  how  that  part  of  the  town  occupied 
by  the  numerous  small  private  buildings  was  laid  out. 

It  is  probable  that  the  great  towns  in  ancient  Egypt  often  changed 
their  position,  like  the  eastern  towns  of  the  Middle  Ages.  It  was  custom- 
ary in  the  East  that  a mighty  monarch  should  begin  at  his  accession  to 
“ build  a city  ; ” he  generally  chose  an  outlying  quarter  of  the  town  or  a 
village  near  the  capital  as  the  site  of  his  palace,  and  transferred  to  it 
the  seat  of  his  government.  Occasionally  this  new  place  was  permanent, 
but  as  a rule  it  was  never  finished,  and  disappeared  a few  generations  later, 
after  a successor  had  established  a new  residence  for  himself.  Thus  the 
capital  in  the  course  of  centuries  moved  hither  and  thither,  and  officially  at 
least  changed  its  name  ; this  was  the  case  with  almost  every  great  city  of 
the  East.  A king  might  also  choose  a new  plot  of  ground  far  from  the 
capital  without  its  becoming  on  that  account  more  permanent. 

We  know  for  certain  that  this  was  customary  with  the  Pharaohs  of 
the  New  Empire  ; Thebes  was  indeed  maintained  as  the  capital  of  the 
kingdom,  on  account  of  her  great  sanctuaries,  but  the  king  resided  in 
some  newly-founded  city  bearing  the  name  of  the  founder.  The  new 
city  was  built  “ after  the  plan  of  Thebes  ” 2 with  granaries  and  storehouses, 
with  gardens  and  tanks  that  it  might  be  “sweet  to  live  in,” 3 and  the 
court  poet  sung  of  her  glory  in  his  “ account  of  the  victory  of  the  lord 
of  Egypt  : ” 4 

“ His  Majesty  has  built  for  himself  a fortress, 

‘ Great  in  victory  ’ is  her  name. 

She  lies  between  Palestine  and  Egypt, 

And  is  full  of  food  and  nourishment. 

Her  appearance  is  as  On  of  the  South, 

And  she  shall  endure  like  Memphis. 

The  sun  rises  in  her  horizon 
And  sets  within  her  boundaries,3 
All  men  forsake  their  towns 
And  settle  in  her  western  territory. 

Amon  dwells  in  the  southern  part,  in  the  temple  of  Sutech, 

But  Astarte  dwells  towards  the  setting  of  the  sun, 

2 An.  3,  2,  1. 

5 That  is  : the  king  lives  in  her. 


1 Plan  of  Tell  el  Amarna,  L.  D.,  i.  63,  64. 
3 lb.  4 An.,  4,  6,  1 ft'. 


7o 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


And  Ud'oit  on  the  northern  side.1 
The  fortress  which  is  within  her 
Is  like  the  horizon  of  heaven, 

‘ Ramses  beloved  of  Anion  ’ is  god  there, 

And  ‘ Mentu  in  the  countries  ’ is  speaker, 

The  1 Sun  of  the  ruler  ’ is  governor,  he  is  gracious  to  Egypt, 

And  ‘ Favourite  of  Atum’  is  prince,  to  whose  dwelling  all  people  go.” 

In  the  same  way  we  know  that  Amenemhe‘t,  a king  of  the  Middle 
pire,  built  a town  for  his  residence  in  the  Feyum,  and  erected 

his  pyramids  close  by.  The  last  circumstance 
explains  what  otherwise  would  appear  most 
strange. 

We  are  accustomed  to  accept  the  Greek 
tradition  that  the  kings  of  the  pyramid  age 
resided  at  Memphis,  the  city  of  the  ancient 
temple  of  Ptah  and  of  the  famous  citadel  of 
the  “ white  wall.”  The  temple  of  Ptah  lay 
near  the  present  village  of  Mitrahine,  and  the 
royal  fortress  must  also  have  been  in  the  same 
neighbourhood.  If  we  go  through  the  monu- 
ments of  the  Old  Empire  we  see  with  astonish- 
ment that  they  never  mention  the  town  of 
Memphis,  at  least  not  under  its  later  name  of 
Mennufer.  Under  each  king  “ his  town  ” is 
spoken  of  as  if  each  ruler  had  his  own  chief 
town  ; and  the  determinative  sign  of  a pyramid 
always  follows  the  word  town,  as  if  the  town 
and  pyramid  of  each  Pharaoh  were  inseparable.  If  we  now  look  at  the 
line  of  pyramids  as  it  appears  in  the  accompanying  sketch,  we  become 
aware  of  the  striking  fact  that  the  pyramid  which  we  know  to  be  the 
most  ancient  is  very  far  removed  from  the  old  site  of  Memphis. 

If  we  accept  the  general  opinion  that  Chufu  and  Cha'fre'  resided  at 
Memphis  then  we  must  also  admit  the  strange  fact  that  they  built  their 
tombs  three  miles  from  their  capital,  whilst  the  desert  ground  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood  was  wholly  bare  of  buildings.  It  is  difficult  to 
believe  this  ; it  is  far  more  likely  that  the  town  of  Chufu  was  in  reality 
near  his  pyramid.  The  residence  of  Cha'fre'  and  of  Menkere1  was  also 
probably  at  Gizeh,  that  of  the  kings  of  the  5th  dynasty  at  Abusir  and 
to  the  north  of  Sakkarah,  whilst  that  of  the  Pharaohs  of  the  6th  dynasty 
was  close  to  the  site  of  the  later  town  of  Memphis.  In  corroboration  of 
this  opinion  we  find  that  the  oldest  pyramid  erected  close  to  Memphis, 
the  tomb  of  Pepy,  was  called  Mennufer,  the  same  name  that  Memphis  bore 
later.  The  town  of  King  Pepy  probably  bore  the  same  name  as  his  pyra- 
mid, and  from  that  town  the  later  town  Mennufer — Memphis — was 
developed,  which  in  the  course  of  time  grew  to  be  a gigantic  city  with  the 

1 The  position  of  the  temple  of  each  divinity  indicated  the  part  of  the  sky  where  that  divinity 
was  supposed  to  dwell. 


IX 


THE  HOUSE 


171 


famous  temple,  the  “ house  of  the  image  of  Ptah,  and  the  fortress  of  the 
“ white  wall.”  Whilst  the  residences  of  the  older  kings  have  completely 
disappeared,  leaving  no  trace  except  their  pyramids,  the  residence  of  Pepy 
prospered  on  account  of  its  vicinity  to  an  important  town. 

The  ruins  of  the  towns  having  disappeared,  it  is  very  difficult  to  form 
any  idea  of  an  ancient  Egyptian  dwelling-house,  and  we  should  be  quite 
powerless  to  do  so,  were  it  not  for  some  coffins  in  the  form  of  houses 
belonging  to  the  time  of  the  Old  Empire.  If  we  look  at  the  picture  of  the 
coffin  of  King  Menkens'  (Dyn.  IV.)  which  once  stood  in  his  pyramid  at 
Gizeh  and  now  lies  at  the  bottom  of  the  Adriatic,  we  see  at  the  first 


sarcophagus  OF  menker£'  (after  Perrot-Chipiez). 


glance  that  it  represents  a house.1  This  house  had  three  doors  on  the 
long  side  and  one  on  the  short  side  ; above  each  was  a latticed  window. 
Graceful  little  pillars,  projecting  slightly  from  the  wall,  support  the 
beams,  on  which  rests  the  concave  portion  of  the  flat  roof.  A mere 
glance  convinces  us  that  this  house  was  built  by  a carpenter  and 
not  by  a mason  ; we  can  see  clearly  how  the  horizontal  beams  fit  into 
those  that  are  vertical.  There  are  no  large  wall-spaces  as  there  are 

1 Coffins  in  the  form  of  houses:  King  Menkere',  Perrot,  p.  109.  Chufu'anch,  Terrot,  p.  188, 
189.  Coffin  at  Gizeh,  L.  D.,  i.  30.  The  splendid  house-shaped  coffin  of  Mentuhotep  (Berlin)  of 
the  Middle  Empire,  which  as  we  see  was  fully  painted. 


172 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


in  brickwork  ; the  whole  house  is  put  together  of  thin  laths  and  planks. 
Trunks  of  palms  are  used  only  at  the  corners  and  for  the  beams 
of  the  roof.  The  ordinary  character  of  these  buildings  is  seen  by  the 
accompanying  sketch  from  Chipiez  ; the  details  are  rather  arbitrary. 

This  style  of  build- 
ing was  no  exception  to 
the  rule,  as  we  see  by 
the  numerous  represent- 
ations of  doors  in  the 
Memphite  tombs.  A 
door,  similar  to  the  door 
of  an  ancient  house,  was 
chiselled  within  the  tomb 
on  the  west  wall,1  and  this 
is  always  very  much  like 
those  seen  on  the  above 
coffin.  Its  form  is  some- 
times simple,  sometimes 
rather  ornamental,  but 
it  is  always  painted  in 
bright  colours. 

Doubtless  the  houses  were  also  adorned  in  this  brilliant  manner  ; each 
lath,  each  board,  was  either  painted  or  gaily  figured.  The  broader  piers 


RESTORATION  OF  A HOUSE  OF  THE  OLD  EMPIRE 
(after  Perrot-Chipiez). 


COFFIN  OF  THE  OLD  EMPIRE  IN  the  form  of  A house  (after  L.  D. , i.  30.  Tomb  98  at  Gizeh). 


were,  however,  hung  with  carpets,  each  with  its  own  pattern  and  its  own 
colour."  Such  a building  would  appear  most  strange  under  our  grey  sky, 
but  in  the  Egyptian  sunlight  the  pretty  systematic  arrangement  of  the 
woodwork  and  the  richness  of  the  colour  must  have  been  most  effective. 

1 False  doors  in  tombs,  Perrot,  p.  181  ( = P1.  13,  14),  512,  513;  L.  D.,  i.  25,  26,  29,  41  ; 
L.  D.,  ii.  10,  11,  16,  17,  33,  48,  etc.  2 Perrot,  PI.  13,  14;  L.  D.,  ii.  98. 


IX 


THE  HOUSE 


1 73 


All  the  houses  of  the  rich  however  were  not  so  highly  decorated. 
The  accompanying  illustration  represents  a coffin  of  an  unknown  man, 
and  gives  us  an  example  of  a model  of  a house  of  much  simpler  construc- 
tion. The  smooth  undivided  walls  are  evidently  of  brick,  the  recess 
containing  the  door  alone  shows  distinct  wooden  construction.  The 
disposition  of  the  rooms  in  this  house  must  also  have  been  very  different 
from  the  above-mentioned  luxurious  wooden  building  ; this  one  has  only' 
two  doors  altogether,  the  walls  of  the  back  of  the  house  and  of  the  two 
short  sides  being  pierced  alone  by'  windows. 

The  dimensions  of  some  of  these  old  palaces  were  very  considerable, 
thus  ‘Amt'en,  the  great  man  of  the  south,  with  whom  we  have  had  so  much 
to  do  (pp.  83-85),  built  a house  for  himself  “two  hundred  ells  long  and 
two  hundred  broad,”  a square  building  therefore,  with  each  side  measur- 
ing over  a hundred  yards.1  Unfortunately  we  know  very  little  of  the 
arrangement  of  the  furniture  of  these  buildings.  Once  only,  in  the  tomb 
of  Ymery',  a superintendent  of  the  royal  property’,2  part  of  the  inside  of  a 
house  is  given.  Ymery  has  caused  himself  to  be  represented  there  seated 
in  a pillared  hall  receiving  the  funerary  offerings.  Four  rows  of 
light  wooden  pillars  nearly'  20  feet  high,  with  capitals  in  the  form  of 
flowers,  support  the  flat  roof.  A gaily  coloured  carpet  is  hung  between 
the  pillars  at  the  back  ; screened  in  this  way  from  the  sight  of  the  servants, 
Ymery  sits  here  on  a high  backed  seat  under  which  crouches  his  greydiound 
’Eken’e.  The  room  is  filled  with  tables  of  food  and  jugs  of  liquid,  and 
from  a bar,  which  runs  the  whole  length  of  the  room  below  the  ceiling, 
hang  pieces  of  roast  meat.  This  is  evidently  the  great  dining-hall,  which 
then,  as  well  as  a century'  later,  constituted  the  chief  room  of  an  Egyptian 
palace. 

Rugs,  like  those  which  adorn  Ymery’s  chair,  evidently  play  a great  part 
in  the  decoration  of  the  room,  and  we  shall  scarcely  make  a mistake  in 
thinking  that  the  inner  sides  of  the  walls  were  hung  with  carpets  like  the 
outer.  The  lower  part  of  the  wall  remained  uncovered  : with  real  artistic 
sense  they'  preferred  a dado  of  a heavier  style,  and  therefore  allowed  the 
timber-work  to  be  seen.  This  was  the  more  decorative  as  they  understood 
how  to  make  the  woodwork  in  alternate  pieces  cut  cross  and  lengthwise.3 
The  round  trunks  of  the  palms  which  formed  the  roof  were  also  often  left 
uncovered  that  they  might  be  seen.  In  some  cases  they  were  splendidly' 
decorated  like  those  beautiful  roofs  in  the  tombs,  which  we  admire  so 
much.  The  Egyptians  preferred  to  have  the  doors  and  windows  small 
and  high  ; there  was  a wooden  roller  at  the  top  of  each  which  served  to 
roll  up  the  mat  which  hung  over  the  opening. 

Let  us  now  pass  over  the  long  series  of  centuries  dividing  the  Old 
from  the  New  Empire,  and  we  shall  find  that  though  for  this  later  period 

1 L.  D. , ii.  7.  The  courts  and  storehouses  were  of  course  included  in  this  reckoning;. 

2 L.  D.,  ii.  52. 

3 L.  D.,  ii.  20.  In  this  tomb  a piece  of  stone  wall  is  seen  below  the  painted  woodwork,  and  in 
the  houses  also  a few  feet  of  the  brickwork  may  sometimes  have  been  visible  below. 


174 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


we  have  at  our  disposal  more  material  than  before,  yet  we  are  still  unable 
to  give  a wholly  satisfactory  picture.  The  representations  of  houses  and 
palaces  which  we  get  from  the  tombs  of  Thebes  and  Tell  el  Amarna  are 
unfortunately  drawn  in  the  same  unfortunate  style  as  the  Egyptians  used  for 
landscape.  When  an  Egyptian  artist  represented  a man  or  an  animal  he 
gave  the  contours  clearly  and  reasonably  in  profile,  but  when  he  had  to 
draw  a great  building,  a temple,  or  a garden,  his  good  genius  forsook  him. 
In  treating  such  an  important  and  complex  object  he  wished  if  possible 
to  show  every  part  of  it  ; he  therefore  did  not  draw  the  house  from  the 
front  nor  from  the  side,  but  made  a picture  of  both  sides  together,  and 
when  the  house  had  an  upper  story  with  three  chambers,  he  put  these  three 
rooms  close  by  also.  He  considered  his  duty  accomplished  when  he  had 
placed  all  the  details  before  the  spectator,  but  he  did  not  care  whether 
the  spectator  understood  how  these  details  fitted  together. 

We  have  to  face  another  difficulty  in  order  to  comprehend  these 
pictures  ; the  Egyptian  artist  has  no  sense  of  proportion  between  the 
different  parts  of  the  representation.  If,  for  instance,  the  king  is  standing 
in  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  building  in  question,  our  artist  would,  regard- 
less of  truth,  draw  that  room  ten  times  as  large  as  all  the  others  together, 
and  even  in  one  picture  he  frequently  changes  his  standard  of  measure- 
ment. The  reader  must  beware  of  these  peculiarities  in  considering  the 
following  restorations  of  Egyptian  buildings. 

The  pictures  in  the  Theban  tombs, 
representing  the  small  country  houses  of 
Egyptians  of  rank,  instruct  us  as  to  the 
outside  of  private  houses  of  the  time  of 
the  New  Empire. 

One  of  these  is  a low  two-storied 
building,  and  like  all  the  houses  of  this 
time  very  bare  on  the  outside.  It  has 
smooth  white-washed  brick  walls,  and  the 
plain  white  surface  is  only  varied  by  the 
projecting  frames  of  the  door  and  win- 
dows. The  ground  floor  seems  to  have 
no  windows,  but  the  first  story  has,  in 
addition  to  its  two  windows,  a kind  of 
balcony.  The  roof,  above  which  we  can  see  the  trees  of  the  garden 
behind,  is  very  strange, — it  is  flat,  but  has  a curious  top,  which  perhaps 
answers  to  the  Mulkuf  of  the  modern  Egyptian  house  ; an  oblique  con- 
struction of  boards  which  catches  the  cool  north  wind  and  conducts  it  into 
the  upper  story  of  the  house. 

We  see  in  the  Theban  wall-picture  on  p.  1761  a country  house  of  the 

1 After  Ros.  M.  C. , 68  ( = Perrot,  p.  453,  after  Champ,  mon.  1 74).  My  opinion  differs  considerably 
from  that  of  Perrot,  who  thinks  this  picture  represents  all  four  sides  of  the  building  together,  which 
is  I think  quite  erroneous.  The  picture  (which  apparently  is  unfinished)  is  only  a part  of  a larger 
one,  as  we  see  by  the  fact  that  the  lower  part  of  the  wall  and  half  of  the  door  on  the  right  side 
are  wanting.  It  would  be  quite  worth  while  to  search  for  the  rest. 


After  Wilk. , i.  361. 


IX 


THE  HOUSE 


175 


time  of  the  1 8th  dynasty;  it  was  not  represented  on  account  of  its  special 
grandeur,  but  as  being  the  scene  of  a home-festival.  In  the  open  porch 
before  the  house  are  the  vessels  of  wine,  while  the  food  is  on  tables  adorned 
with  garlands  ; numerous  jars,  loaves,  and  bowls  stand  close  by,  hidden 
by  a curtain  from  the  guests  who  are  entering.  Whilst  the  latter  greet 
their  host  a jar  of  wine  with  its  embroidered  cover  is  carried  past,  and 
two  servants  in  the  background,  who  seem  to  be  of  a very  thirsty  nature, 
have  already  seized  some  drinking  bowls. 

The  house  itself  lies  in  a corner  of  the  garden,  which  is  planted  with 
dark  green  foliage  trees,  figs,  and  pomegranates,  and  in  which  there  is  also 
an  arbour  covered  with  vines.  The  garden  is  surrounded  by  a wall  of 
brownish  brick  pierced  by  two  granite  doors.  Though  the  house  has  two 
stories  it  strikes  us  as  very  small  ; it  has  only  one  door  which,  as  was 
customary  at  that  time,  is  placed  at  one  side  of  the  principal  wall  and  not 
in  the  middle.  The  ground  floor  seems  to  be  built  of  brick  and  to  be 
whitewashed  ; it  is  lighted  by  three  small  windows  with  wooden  lattice- 
work  ; the  door  has  a framework  of  red  granite.  The  first  story  is  in 
quite  a different  style,  the  walls  are  made  of  thin  boards,  the  two  windows 
are  large,  their  frames  project  a little  from  the  wall  and  are  closed  by 
brightly  coloured  mats.  This  story  contains  probably  the  principal  room 
of  the  house,  the  room  for  family  life.  A curious  fact  confirms  this  sup- 
position : the  window-hangings  have  a small  square  piece  cut  out  at  the 
bottom  allowing  the  women  to  see  out  of  the  windows  without  themselves 
being  seen.  A similar  arrangement  exists  now  in  modern  Egyptian 
houses. 

The  roof  of  the  second  story  rests  on  little  pillars  and  is  open  on  all 
sides  to  the  air.  Ventilation  is  much  thought  of  also  in  the  other  parts 
of  the  house,  for  the  whole  of  the  narrow  front  is  left  open  and  can  only 
be  closed  by  a large  curtain  of  matting.  In  our  picture  this  is  only  half 
drawn  up,  so  as  to  conceal  the  interior  of  the  ground  floor  from  the  guests. 
In  order  to  protect  this  part  of  the  house  from  the  great  heat  of  the 
Theban  sun,  a wonderful  canopy,  borne  by  six  thin  blue  wooden  pillars, 
is  carried  over  the  whole  building,  and  brought  forward  like  a porch  in 
the  front  of  the  house.  Our  picture  shows  us  how  this  porch  was  used  ; 
it  was  the  place  in  which  the  Egyptians  enjoyed  the  pleasures  of  life  ; 
here  they  could  breathe  the  sweet  breath  of  the  north  wind  and  enjoy 
the  flowers  and  trees  of  the  garden.  An  excellent  restoration  of  this 
house  forms  the  frontispiece  to  this  chapter. 

The  above  details  show  plainly  that  the  gentlefolk  of  Egypt  preferred 
to  live  far  from  the  bustle  of  the  world  ; this  is  still  more  apparent  in 
the  case  of  another  house  of  the  same  epoch.  The  gentleman  to  whom 
the  garden  described  on  p.  195  belonged  had  his  house  hidden  in  the 
farthest  corner  of  his  garden,  behind  high  leafy  trees  screening  it  from 
inquisitive  eyes.  People  passing  on  the  canal  would  only  see  the  tops  of 
the  trees  over  the  white  wall  : the  simplicity  of  the  house  corresponds 
with  its  hidden  situation.  It  is  a one-storied  building  with  a higher  wing 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


176 


visit  TO  A country  house  (after  Ros.  M. 


IX 


THE  HOUSE 


1 77 


something  like  a tower  on  the  left  ; it  has  plain  wooden  walls,  the  only 
decoration  of  which  consists  in  the  hollow  below  the  roof  and  the  project- 
ing frames  and  pillars  of  the  windows.  Unfortunately  the  details  of  the 
plan  are  very  obscure. 

A country  house,  such  as  we  have  described  above,  cannot  be  considered 
as  a complete  example  of  the  house  of  an  Egyptian  gentleman.  It  is  so 
small  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  find  room  for  a large  household. 
There  are  no  servants’  rooms,  no  storerooms,  no  kitchens.  All  these  offices, 
which  might  be  dispensed  with  in  the  country,  are  absolutely  necessary  in 
a town  house  : the  number  of  servants  employed  in  the  household  of  a 
rich  man  will  alone  give  us  an  idea  of  the  size  required  for  his  residence. 

The  plans  of  the  houses  which  are  given  in  the  tombs  of  Tell  el 


Amarna  are  in  fact  quite  different  from  the  above.  Instead  of  a single 
building  with  several  stories  we  here  find  a number  of  one-storied  rooms 
and  halls  grouped  round  small  courts.  This  characteristic  is  common  to 
all,  though  the  details  of  the  plans  may  vary  a good  deal  according  to  the 
taste  or  the  wealth  of  the  proprietor.  The  two  houses  represented  in  the 
tomb  of  the  high  priest  Meryre*  are  perhaps  the  most  simple  in  their 
arrangement  ; one  is  drawn  from  the  front,  the  other  from  the  side.  They 
seem  both  to  have  belonged  to  that  wealthy  priest.1  The  new  city  extended 
a long  way,  and  it  is  quite  conceivable  that  he  may  have  thought  it 
necessary  to  have  one  house  near  the  temple  and  another  near  the  palace 

1 After  L.  D.,  iii.  93  and  96  b.  I have  a suspicion  that  both  pictures  represent  the  same 
building,  in  spite  of  all  the  variations  in  detail. 


N 


•78 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


of  his  master.  The  two  buildings  resemble  each  other  very  much,  and  in 
our  description  we  will  treat  them  as  the  same. 

The  ground  plan  was  rectangular,  and  the  whole  was  surrounded  by  a 
wall  which  could  only  be  entered  on  the  short  side  in  front  of  the  house 
where  there  was  the  principal  door  with  a small  door  on  either  hand.  Inside 
the  wall  was  a court  where  we  see  the  servants  busy  sweeping  and  sprinkling 
with  water.  The  farther  wall  of  this  court  forms  the  front  of  three  small 


buildings.  The  arrangement  of  the  two  side  rooms  is  obscure — we  can 
only  see  a row  of  pillars  in  the  interior  of  them  ; the  central  building 
however  certainly  served  as  a vestibule  to  the  great  hall  which  lay  behind. 
This  vestibule  is  a coquettish  kiosk  borne  by  four  pretty  pillars,  the  wall  in 
front  only  reaching  half  way  up.  The  top  of  this  wall  and  the  posts  of  the 
doors  are  adorned  with  rows  of  uraeus  snakes  in  bronze.  There  is  a porch 
in  front  of  the  vestibule,  like  that  in  the  country  house  mentioned  above. 


IX 


THE  HOUSE 


179 


Passing  through 
the  kiosk  we  enter  the 
most  important  room 
in  the  Egyptian  house, 
the  great  dining  - hall 
supported  by  pillars. 
The  large  dining  table 
stands  in  the  middle 
covered  with  dishes, 
bowls  of  fruit,  and 
loaves  of  bread  ; roast 
meat  and  other  articles 
of  food  are  placed  upon 
smaller  tables  ; there 
are  also  flowers  and 
gay  necklets,  the  requi- 
sites for  an  Egyptian 
dinner-party.  In  the 
back  part  of  the  hall 
a row  of  immense  wine 
jars  are  built  into  the 
wall.  On  either  side 
of  the  table  stand  one 
or  two  arm-chairs,  and 
close  to  one  of  them 
is  a basin  with  a jug  of 
water  ; evidently  the 
present  Oriental  cus- 
tom of  pouring  water 
over  the  hands  after 
eating  is  no  modern 
innovation. 

Behind  the  dining- 
hall,  but  separated 
from  it  by  a small 
court,  are  the  store- 
rooms and  a sleeping 
apartment.  The  room 
on  the  right  side  of 
the  latter  is  not  entered 
directly  from  the  court 
but  through  a small 
ante-chamber;  a large 
bed  piled  high  with 
pillows  and  bolsters 
stands  in  the  middle. 


PLAN  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  MERYRfe'  (after  L.  D. , iii.  93), 


A.  Court. 

B.  Vestibule  with  porch. 

C.  D.  Porters’  rooms. 

E.  Dining  hall. 

G.  Vestibule. 

H.  Bedroom. 

I.  L.  Bakery. 

M,  N.  Kitchens. 

O.  Court. 


a.  Seats  for  the  porters. 

b.  Large  table. 

c.  Seat  for  the  master. 

d.  Small  tables. 

e.  Jugs. 

f.  Bed. 

g.  Toilet-table. 

h.  Table  with  bread. 

i.  Bowls  on  stands. 

k.  Jugs. 

l.  Hearth. 


i8o 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


To  the  left  is  the  bakery,  consisting  of  an  ante -room  and  two  other 
rooms  ; here  a workman  is  busy  pounding  corn  in  a great  mortar. 
Two  large  rooms  filled  with  jars  serve  as  kitchens  ; in  each  room  there 

is  a low  hearth. 

Two  doors  1 
lead  to  these  rooms 
behind  ; the  larger 
door  is  in  the 
middle  of  the 
dining-hall,  and  is 
evidently  destined 
for  the  company 
and  for  the  ser- 
vants when  wait- 
ing at  meals.  The 
servants  usually 
however  passed 
through  the  vesti- 
bule to  the  left 
into  the  left  side  of 
the  hall,  which  was 
left  unfurnished, 

and  thence  through  a little  door  into  the  court  at  the 
back.  There  was  no  direct  way  from  the  storerooms 
into  the  street,  the  servants  had  always  to  pass  through 
the  great  hall  ; a fault  in  the  plan  which  seems  strange 
enough.  Another  curious  fact  about  Meryre's  house 
is  that  there  were  no  women’s  apartments.  This  puzzle 
is  easily  explained  by  the  inscriptions  in  his  tomb  : in 
no  place  is  his  wife  mentioned.  Meryre1  therefore  was 
an  old  bachelor.  This  is  also  the  reason  that  in  one 
of  his  dining-halls  we  see  but  one  chair  ; the  great  lord 
ate  his  dinner  alone.  The  accompanying  plate  gives  a restoration  of  this 
interesting  building.  The  artist  has  succeeded  very  well  in  giving  to  the 
surroundings  the  general  character  of  an  ancient  Egyptian  town. 

A house  of  very  different  plan  was  that  in  which  the  above-mentioned 
(p.  i 19)  “ holy  father”  ’Ey  lived  with  his  family  at  Tell  el  Amarna.2  The 
shape  of  the  plan  was  again  rectangular,  with  the  short  side  parallel  to 
the  street  ; it  was  therefore  impossible  to  have  the  usual  arrangement  of 
courts  and  buildings. 

The  stately  enclosed  court  with  its  three  doors  and  the  three  vestibules 


PLAN  of  the  house  of  ’ey  (after  L.  D. , iii. 
106). 


A.  Servants’  room. 

B,  C.  Bedchambers. 

D,  E.  Pantries. 

F.  Dining  hall. 

G.  Bedroom. 

H.  Dining-room. 

I.  Kitchen. 

K.  Bakery. 

M,  L,  O,  P.  Women’s  apartments. 

N,  R.  Bedchambers  for  the  women. 
S,  T.  Kitchens  for  the  servants. 

Y.  Garden. 

U,  W,  Z.  Courts. 


1 This  refers  to  the  one  building,  the  other  possesses  but  one  entrance  door  : therefore  in  the 
latter  the  left  side  of  the  dining-hall  is  not  left  free. 

2 After  L.  D.,  iii.  106  a.  The  smaller  corner-room  is  completed  from  Prisse’s  publication  of  this- 
plan.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  ground-plan  was  really  rectangular,  or  whether  it  is  so  represented 
from  want  of  room. 


RESIDENCE  OF  A WEALTHY  EGYPTIAN  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  i8tii  DYNASTY. 

AFTER  THE  PLANS  L.  1).,  HI.  93,  96.  RESTORATION  BY  P.  LAUSER. 

I he  walls  are  broken  away  to  show  the  interior  of  the  vestibule  on  the  left,  and  of  the  great  dining-hall.  [ To  face  pa^e  180. 


THE  HOUSE 


1S1 


beyond  are  not  to  be  found 
here  ; if  we  enter  from  the 
street'  we  find  ourselves  in 
front  of  three  small  buildings, 
and  of  these  the  one  on  the 
left  alone  (the  room  of  the 
servant  on  duty)  has  rather  a 
dignified  appearance,  the  other 
two  being  merely  additional 
storerooms  for  wine  and  oil. 
Were  it  not  for  the  fan-bearers 
standing  in  front  of  the  door, 
no  one  would  guess  that  this 
insignificant  house  was  the 
residence  of  the  mighty  favour- 
ite of  Pharaoh.  To  the  right 
of  these  buildings  we  pass 
through  a small  door  into  a 
narrow  court,  where  the  ser- 
vants are  busy  with  their 
brooms  and  water-pots.  The 
stately  building  beyond  is  the 
dining-hall,  which  is  arranged 
in  the  usual  manner. 

A door  leads  from  the 
back  of  the  dining-hall  into 
a court,  through  which  we 
reach  the  kitchen  and  the 
master’s  bedroom.  In  the 
middle  of  the  latter  is  an 
immense  four-post  bedstead, 
near  which  stand  three  small 
beds,  which  may  be  intended 
for  ’Ey’s  children.  A second 
smaller  dining-room  adjoins 
the  bedroom  ; it  contains  as 
usual  two  arm-chairs  with 
footstools,  a large  dining 
table,  and  jars  of  wine  ; the 
jug  and  wash-basin  have  also 
not  been  forgotten.  Appar- 
ently ’Ey  and  his  wife  Tey 
only  used  their  great  dining- 
hall  on  festive  occasions. 

This  court  and  the  long 
wing  which  stretches  to  the 


PART  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  ’EY.  Rooms  G-N 
(after  L.  D. , iii.  106). 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


left  of  it  is  the  scene  of  the  daily  life  of  the  household.  Servants  are 
grouped  together  in  the  corners,  gossiping  busily  over  the  news  of  the 
day ; sitting  on  low  stones  before  the  entrance  to  the  master’s  rooms 
are  the  porters,  who  join,  though  from  a distance,  in  the  interesting 
conversation. 

If  we  leave  the  court  on  the  left  and  go  round  the  kitchen  we  find 
ourselves  in  front  of  a handsome  building  which  is  nothing  less  than  the 
harem  belonging  to  ’Ey — the  dwelling  of  his  wife,  of  her  attendants,  and  of 
his  children.  He  possessed  two  similar  houses  turned  back  to  back,  and 
separated  by  a small  garden  containing  trees  and  tanks  of  water.  Each 
house  is  divided  into  two  rooms  supported  by  pillars,  behind  each  of  which 
are  two  other  rooms  for  the  musical  instruments  and  the  toilet  requisites. 
No  work  was  ever  done  here.  Behind  the  two  houses  for  the  women,  at  the 
further  end  of  the  piece  of  ground,  are  two  other  kitchens,  apparently 
intended  for  the  servants,  several  of  whom  are  squatting  round  this  build- 
ing, busily  intent  on  eating  their  dinner  from  small  tables. 

The  houses  which  we  have  now  considered  suffice  to  give  us  an  idea  of 
the  private  dwellings  of  the  New  Empire.  If  we  put  aside  the  question  of 
the  above-mentioned  country  houses,  we  find  that  the  following  parts  belong 
to  the  complete  town  house  of  the  I 8th  dynasty  : a great  vestibule  with 
an  ante-room  for  the  porter  ; behind  that  the  large  dining-hall,  the  prin- 
cipal room  in  the  whole  house  ; beyond,  a small  court,  to  the  right  of 
which  was  the  sleeping  apartment  of  the  master  ; to  the  left,  the  kitchen 
and  store-room.  Then  beyond  still  further  follows  the  house  for  the 
women  and  the  garden. 

Doubtless  this  plan  holds  good  for  all  the  large  private  houses,  and 
even  the  king’s  palace  differed  only  in  size  and  grandeur.1 2  The  palace 
has  a vestibule  with  a principal  door  and  two  side  doors  ; three  small 
buildings  with  a row  of  pillars  extending  along  the  front  forms  the  further 
side  of  this  vestibule.  The  central  building  (answering  to  the  kiosk-like 
ante-chamber  in  the  house  of  Meryre‘)  is  often  represented  in  the  tombs  of 
Tell  el  Amarna  ; the  king  and  queen  appear  on  the  balcony  above,  to  show 
themselves  to  their  faithful  servants  and  to  throw  down  presents  to  them. 
This  balcony,  the  smshd,  which  is  frequently  mentioned,  forms  a charac- 
teristic part  of  the  royal  palace  ; the  king  appears 2 on  it  to  inspect  the 
heaps  of  tribute  below  and  the  slaves  who  are  led  before  him.  This 
“ great  balcony  ” was  therefore  richly  decorated  ; it  consisted  of  “ good 
gold  ” or  of  “ lapislazuli  and  malachite.” 3 Behind  the  three  ante- 
chambers are  the  state  rooms,  two  immense  dining  halls,  and  adjoining 
one  of  these  is  the  kitchen  and  the  sleeping  apartment  of  the  monarch. 
In  the  latter  his  bedstead  stands  surrounded  by  flowers  in  bloom. 

Not  far  from  the  temple  of  Medinet  Habu  there  is  a ruin,  which  is 

1 The  palace  of  the  king  : L.  D.,  iii.  108-109  ; the  details  are  very  obscure  owing  to  the  change 
in  the  scale  of  measure.  The  kiosk  of  the  palace:  L.  D.,  iii.  103,  108  ; the  remarkable  building 
L.  D.,  iii.  99,  with  its  ramp  seems  to  belong  here. 

2 Harr.,  i.  4,  12. 


3 lb.  and  An.,  3,  7,  5. 


IX 


THE  HOUSE 


183 


probably  the  remains  of  a royal  castle.  Ramses  II.  and  Ramses  III.  had, 
as  I have  already  remarked  (p.  70),  laid  out  certain  palaces  near  the 
temples  which  they  had  founded  on  the  western  bank.  The  pleasing  build- 
ing with  narrow  rooms,  like  a tower,  so  well  known  by  the  name  of  the 


SEAT  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  4TH  DYNASTY  ARM-CHAIR  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  5TH  DYNASTY 
(after  L.  D. , ii.  44).  (after  L.  D. , ii.  74  c). 

“ Pavilion  of  Medinet  Habu,”  belongs  to  the  noble  royal  palace,  which 
Ramses  III.  built  here  for  himself  “ like  the  hall  of  Atum,  which  is  in  the 
heavens,  with  pillars, 
beams,  and  doors  of 
silver,  and  a great 
balcony  of  good  gold 
upon  which  to  ap- 
pear.1 ” Contrary  to 
custom  Ramses  III. 
built  the  front  of  his 
palace  of  quarried 
stone,  and  therefore 
the  ruins  of  this  part 
remain  whilst  no  trace 
is  left  of  the  palace 
proper. 

We  have  fortu- 
nately very  definite 
knowledge  about  the 
furniture  of  the  ancient 
Egyptian  house  ; it 

was  distinguished  at  chair  in  the  leyden  museum  (after  Wilk. , i.  410). 

all  periods  by  elegance 

and  good  sense.  The  chairs  and  couches  were  specially  handsome ; 

1 Harr.,  i.  4,  1 1. 


184 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


they  were  often  made  of  ebony  inlaid  with  ivory,1  and  from  the  earliest 
period  it  was  customary  to  shape  the  feet  like  the  paws  of  a lion,  and 
if  possible  to  bring  in  the  head  of  a lion  also,  as  if  the  king  of  beasts 
were  offering  his  back  as  a seat  to  the  great  lord.  The  most  ancient 
form  of  seat  is  a wooden  stool  covered  by  a cushion,  and  carved  into 
the  form  of  a lotus-flower  behind,  while  the  legs  are  shaped  like  those  of 


STOOL  MADE  OF  EBONY  INLAID  WITH  IVORY 
(British  Museum.  After  Wilk. , i.  413). 


a lion.2 3  It  is  intended  for  one  or  for  two  persons,  and  appears  to  have  been 
used  even  down  to  the  time  of  the  New  Empire.  Under  the  5th  dynasty 
this  seat  usually  had  high  sides  and  a back.1  These  seats  are  too  high 

and  stiff  to  appear  at  all  comfort- 
able, and  in  fact  under  the  Middle 
Empire  the  back  was  sloped  and 
the  sides  were  lowered.4 * *  Under  the 
New  Empire  seats  like  that  seen 
in  the  accompanying  illustration 
were  in  general  use.  The  reader 
will  recognise  that  they  resemble 
those  given  in  the  above  repre- 
sentations of  houses  from  Tell  el 
Amarna.J  They  are  as  a rule 
covered  with  thick  downy  cushions, 
and  rarely,  as  in  old  times,  with  a 
simple  stuffed  leather  seat.0  Most 
of  them  are  higher  than  the  corre- 
sponding seats  of  the  Old  Empire, 
and  a footstool  is  therefore  necessary.'  There  are  many  other  forms  of 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  19.  Cp.  Wilk.,  i.  413,  414. 

2 Dyn.  IV. : L.  D.,  ii.  10,  11,  13,  17  d,  19.  Dyn.  V.  : L.  D.,  ii.  44,  51.  Dyn.  XII.  : L.  D., 
ii.  134  b.  Dyn.  XVIII.  : L.  D.,  iii.  9. 

3 L.  D.,  ii.  42,  47,  52,  56,  57,  61,  74  c.  4 L.  D.,  ii.  127. 

5 L.  D.,  iii.  39,  64,  99,  100,  208  d,  230,  there  are  exceptions  without  the  lions’  paws. 

6 See  the  illustration  (chap,  xi.)  of  the  wall-picture  now  in  the  British  Museum.  A similar 

leather  seat  is  preserved  (Wilk.,  i.  414).  7 After  L.  D.,  iii.  100,  208  d,  230. 


IX 


THE  HOUSE 


185 


seats  besides  these  splendid  examples,  such  as  stools  without  backs  or 
lions’  paws,  made  out  of  palm  branches  lightly  put  together  ; stools  made 
of  ebony  of  careful  workmanship  ; seats  which  could  be  folded  together 
like  our  camp-stools,1  and  low  seats  for  old  people,  thickly  cushioned  like 
our  sofas,  etc.2 

The  couch  also  belongs  here.  It  is  really  only  a broader  seat,  decorated 


COUCH  (i),  WITH  HEAD-REST  (2)  ; THE  LITTLE  STEPS  (3)  BELOW  SERVE  TO  GET  UP  ON  THE  COUCH 

(Tomb  of  Ramses  III.  After  Wilk.,  i.  416). 

usually  with  lions’  paws  and  frequently  with  a great  lion’s  head.3 
Cushions  might  be  piled  up  on  these  couches,  as  the  reader  can  see  in  the 
sleeping  apartments  in  our  plan  of  a house  ; as  a remarkable  contrast  to 
the  enjoyment  of  comfort  which  this  suggests  we  find  that  a wooden 
head-rest  was  used  as  a pillow  at  all  periods.  This  was  pushed  under  the 
neck  so  that  the  head  hung  free  over  the  cushions  ; the  artificial  wig  of 
the  sleeper  thus  remained  uninjured,  this  being  the  sole  raisojt  d'etre  of 
this  uncomfortable  object. 

The  Egyptians  originally  had  no  tables,  at  least  not  of  the  shape 


which  has  come  down  to  us  from  classical  times.  Under  the  Old  Empire 
high  or  low  stands  of  the  above  shapes  were  used.  These  were  often  made  of 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  64,  105.  Camp-stool  with  a high  back  and  cushions.  L.  D. , iii.  208  a. 

2 L.  D.,  ii.  126  (M.E.)  This  is  evidently  the  throne  of  the  hieroglyphics. 

3 E.g.  L.  D.,  ii.  126. 


1 86 


LIFE  IN  A ANIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


coloured  stone.1  On  each  was  placed  a jug  or  cup,  or  e.g.y  as  a preparation 
for  meals,  a flat  basket  which  then  served  as  a dinner-plate  ; a low  frame- 
work of  thin  laths  was  also  in  use,  especially  as  a stand  for  jars.  These 


lath-stands  in  later  times  constituted  the  only  form  of  table  that  was 
used  ; in  the  houses  of  Tell  el  Amarna  we  see  them  of  all  sizes  in  the 
dining-hall  of  the  master  as  well  as  in  the  bedrooms  and  kitchens.  It  is 
but  rarely  that  we  find  the  old  stands  for  jars  and  baskets,  and  then  as  a 
rule  only  in  representations  of  offerings.2 

Instead  of  cupboards  they  used  large  wooden  boxes  to  keep  their 


clothes  and  such  like  property.  Under  the  New  Empire  these  were  gener- 
ally in  the  shape  of  the  accompanying  illustration  with  a round  cover  rising 
high  at  the  back.5 

In  order  to  obtain  a right  idea  of  an  Egyptian  interior,  to  the  list 
of  furniture  which  we  have  already  considered,  we  must  finally  add  carpets 
and  curtains.  A tomb  of  the  5 th  dynasty  4 shows  us  how  the  walls  were 
covered  with  coloured  matting  ; in  other  tombs  of  the  same  period  we  see 
screens  about  the  height  of  a man,  formed  of  perhaps  sixty  pieces  of 
different  patterns  ; they  stand  near  where  the  master  sat.5  Thick  rugs 
for  covering  the  floor  are  found  at  all  periods.  The  chair  of  the  master  is 
placed  on  one  ; and  when  the  ladies  sit  on  the  floor  at  the  feasts,  beautiful 
rugs  are  spread  for  them. 

1 The  colour  certainly  of  the  stone:  L.D.,  ii.  19,  20.  What  the  little  notch  means  above  and 
below  on  these  stands  I cannot  tell.  It  sometimes  happens  (e.g.  L.  D.,  ii.  57  b)  that  the  foot  and 
the  basket  are  firmly  joined  together. 

2 The  stands  of  the  tables  of  offerings  are  higher  than  those  of  the  Old  Empire. 

3 The  boxes  of  the  Old  Empire  which  I know  have  flat  covers : L.  D.,  ii.  96.  Badeker,  p.  409. 

4 Perrot-Chipiez,  PI.  14.  5 L.  D.,  ii.  57,  63,  64. 


IX 


THE  HOUSE 


1 87 


From  the  above-mentioned  pictures  from  Tell  el  Amarna  we  can  see 
in  what  grand  style  an  Egyptian  lord  lived,  and  we  may  be  sure  that  he 
required  a vast  number  of  servants.  Our  knowledge  of  these  dependants 
is  gleaned  chiefly  from  the  details  that  we  have  of  the  courts  of  the 
nomarchs  of  the  I 2th  dynasty.  The  chief  of  the  household  consisted  of  an 
old  “ superintendent  of  the  provision  house,”  who  had  the  charge  of  the 
store-rooms.1 2  He  had  the  supervision  of  the  bakery  as  well  as  of  the 
slaughter-house,  and  grew  so  stout  in  the  exercise  of  his  duties  that  at  the 
funeral  festival  of  his  master  he  was  not  able  to  carry  his  own  offering.1 


A ladies’  PARTY  under  the  new  EMPIRE  (after  Wilk.,  ii.  353.  Thebes). 


At  the  head  of  the  kitchen  stood  the  “superintendent  of  the  dwelling;”3 
the  serfs  4 were  subject  to  him  ; the  “ superintendent  of  the  bakehouse  ” 5 
governed  the  bakery  and  the  “ scribe  of  the  sideboard  ” 6 7 was  originally 
appointed  to  take  charge  of  his  master’s  drinks.  To  these  we  must  add 
the  porter,  the  baker,  the  gardener,  and  other  under-servants,  as  well  as 
handicraftsmen  and  women  who  worked  for  the  master.  Smaller  house- 
holds under  the  Middle  Empire  were  arranged  of  course  in  a more 
modest  manner,  yet  they  often  had  their  serfs,'  bakers, s and  other  servants, 


1 A storeroom  is  seen  in  a picture  of  Tell  el  Amarna  (Wilk.,  i.  340,  348)  it  contains  twenty-four 
small  rooms,  in  which  are  kept  various  assorted  breads,  drinks,  fish,  fruit,  boxes  of  clothes,  and 
vessels  of  precious  metal.  Close  by  are  the  granaries.  Unfortunately  we  cannot  discover  from  Wilk. 
whether  these  buildings  belong  to  a private  house  ; I therefore  pass  over  them  here. 

2 L.  D.,  ii.  126,  128. 
o 

p I as  chief  of  the  kitchen:  Ros.  M.  C.,  83,  2.  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab. , 740. 


L.  D.,  ii.  128,  129.  Cp.  the  remarks  p.  105. 


— I L.  D.,  ii.  1 3 1.  Ib.  126. 


6 L.  D.,  ii.  131.  He  is  generally  spoken  of  as  scribe  of  the  libations,  and  is  therefore  a priestly 
official. 

7 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  650.  Everything  in  the  following  remarks  applies  to  the  Middle  Empire. 


| | Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  606,  634.  What  the 


0 


(ib.  and  frequently)  are,  I do  not  know. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAI>. 


1 88 


who  were  certainly  some  of  them  bond-servants  ; there  were  also  female 
slaves  -,1  pretty  Syrians  were  often  chosen  to  wait  on  the  master.2  In  the 
royal  court  at  any  rate  there  were  bond-servants,  who  were  under  their 
“ great  superintendent  ” ; and  amongst  the  upper  servants  of  the  household 
there  were  certainly  many  foreign  imported  slaves.3  But  these  royal 
“ provision  superintendents,”  4 “ superintendents  of  the  dwelling,”  5 serfs,6 
“ bearers  of  cool  drinks,” 7 “ scribes  of  the  sideboard,” 8 “ preparers  of 
sw’eets,”  9 as  they  are  called,  were  people  of  importance  and  respectability, 
and  the  more  so  because  the  Egyptians  at  all  times  were  very  fond  of 
good  cooking. 

It  sounds  indeed  very  modest  when,  in  the  prayers  for  the  deceased, 
the  Egyptian  prayed  that  he  might  have  for  his  nourishment  in  heaven 
bread  and  beer,  goose  and  beef ; but  a glance  at  the  lists  of  offerings  in 
the  tombs  shows  us  that  they  knew  very  well  that  all  bread  and  all  meat 
was  not  the  same  thing.  These  curious  lists  claim  for  the  deceased  not 
less  than  ten  sorts  of  different  meat,  five  kinds  of  birds,  sixteen  kinds  of 
bread  and  cake,  six  kinds  of  wine,  and  four  of  beer,  and  eleven  varieties  of 
fruit,  as  well  as  “all  manner  of  sweet  things,”  10  etc.  These  dishes  were 
not  passed  down  from  one  generation  to  another,  as  is  the  case  with  a 
primitive  people ; rather  they  were  like  our  dishes,  subject  to  fashion. 
We  have  the  menu  of  the  meal  which  was  to  be  prepared  for  a king  of 
the  19th  dynasty  in  the  various  towns  he  passed  through  on  his  journey 
with  the  court ; and  in  the  list  of  ten  varieties  of  bread  and  five  sorts  of 
cake  there  is  scarcely  one  which  was  in  common  use  under  the  Old 
Empire.11  They  had  foreign  dishes  as  well  as  those  of  home  manufacture. 
In  a very  ancient  sacred  book  we  read  that  the  gods  eat  the  fine  bread  of 
Qamh,  i.e.  the  trap  of  the  Semites.12  The  names  also  of  a good  many 
of  the  dishes  of  the  New  Empire  show  them  to  be  importations.  It  was 
from  the  neighbouring  northern  countries,  particularly  Syria,  Asia  Minor, 
and  Mesopotamia,  that  the  Egyptians  procured  culinary  delicacies.  For 
the  “ princes  ” there  were  the  “ great  well-baked  loaves  ” made  from  the 
corn  of  T'uret  (ni’B),  and  for  the  soldiers  various  kinds  of  Syrian  bread 
from  Qamh,13  as  the  Keleshet  bread,  and  especially  the  Arupusa  (d/V<£d?). 
The)'-  obtained  good  wine  from  Charu;  beer  from  Qede ; fine  oil  from  ’Ersa, 
Cheta,  Sangar,  ’Emur,  T’echesa,  and  Naharena  ; the  best  figs  came  from 
Charu.14  These  articles  of  food  were  however  not  always  really  imported  ; 

I lb.  615,  705.  2 lb.  690,  697.  Louvre  C.,  170. 

3 An.,  4,  16,  2 = An.,  3,  8,  3.  4 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  384,  582,  691. 

5 lb.  751.  Cp.  also  p.  190,  note  3.  6 M.  E.  : ib.  642,  659,  671,  684. 

7 Ib.  644.  8 O.  E.  : R.  J.  H.,  2.  M.  E.  : Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  707. 

9 O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  95  a.  M.  E.  : Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  723.  N.  E.  : ib.  406. 

10  Cp.  the  group  of  lists  of  offerings  of  the  O.  E.  in  Diimichen,  tomb-palace  of  Petamenap 
T.,  18-26. 

II  An.,  3,  14,  12  ff. 

12  In  the  pyramid  texts : Teti,  57.  In  the  old  lists  of  offerings  (Diimichen,  ib.  66)  next  to  the  words, 
“ the  bread  which  is  in  the  country  ” (63)  that  is  the  native  bread.  The  writing  also  seems  to  indi- 
cate a foreign  product. 

13  An.,  4,  17,  6.  Cp.  An.,  4,  13,  12  ff. 


14  An.,  4,  15,  2 ff. 


IX 


THE  HOUSE 


189 


besides  the  real  “ Oede  beer  from  the  port,”  1 there  was  the  Oede  beer 
which  was  brewed  in  Egypt  by  foreign  slaves.'2 

We  know  very  little  unfortunately  of  how  the  dishes  were  prepared. 
The  favourite  national  dish,  the  goose,  was  generally  roasted  over  live 
embers  ; the  spit  is  very  primitive — a stick  stuck  through  the  beak  and 
neck  of  the  bird.3  They  roasted  fish  in  the  same  way,  sticking  the  spit 
through  the  tail.4  The  roast  did  not,  of  course,  look 
very  appetising  after  this  manner  of  cooking,  and  it 
had  to  be  well  brushed  by  a wisp  of  straw  before 
beins;  eaten.  A low  slab  of  limestone  served  as  a 
hearth  ; even  the  shepherds,  living  in  the  swamps  with 
their  cattle,  took  this  apparatus  about  with  them.  In  the  kitchen  3 of 
Ymery,  superintendent  of  the  domain  of  King  Shepseskaf,  the  hearth  is 
replaced  by  a metal  brasier  with  pretty  open-work  sides.  In  the  same 
kitchen  we  see  how  the  meat  is  cut  up  on  low  tables  and  cooked  ; the 
smaller  pots  have  been  placed  on  a brasier,  the  large  ones  stand  on  two 


ROAST  GOOSE. 


supports  over  the  open  fire.  It  is  only  when  we  come  to  the  time  of 
the  New  Empire  that  we  find,  in  representations  of  the  kitchen  of 
Ramses  III.,  a great  metal  kettle  with  feet  standing  on  the  fire  ; the 
kitchen  boy  is  stirring  the  contents  with  an  immense  two-pronged  fork. 
The  floor  of  the  whole  of  the  back  part  of  the  kitchen  is  composed  of 
mud  and  little  stones,  and  is  raised  about  a foot  in  order  to  form  the 
fireplace,  above  which,  under  the  ceiling,  extends  a bar  on  which  is  hung 
the  stock  of  meat. 

Bread-making  held  a high  place  in  the  housekeeping  at  all  periods, 
bread  in  different  forms  being  the  staple  article  of  food  with  the  people.6 
We  know  therefore  a good  deal  about  it.  We  may  take  it  for  granted 
that  the  Egyptians,  at  any  rate  in  the  older  periods,  had  no  mills  ; we 
never  find  one  represented  in  their  tombs.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  time 
of  the  Middle  as  well  as  of  the  New  Empire  we  find  representations  of 
great  mortars  in  which  one  or  two  men  are  “ pounding  the  corn  ” with 
heavy  pestles,  just  in  the  same  way  as  is  done  now  in  many  parts  of 


1 An.,  3,  3,  6.  2 An.,  4,  16,  3 = An.,  3,  8,  5. 

3 Roast  goose — O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  66,  77  ; Badeker,  404.  Cp.  L.  D. , ii.  52. 

4 L.  D.,  ii.  10. 

8 Kitchens— O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  52  ( = Ros.  M.  C.,  84,  3 = W.,  ii.  35).  M.  E.  : Ros.  M.  C.,  83, 
87.  N.  E.  : Ros.  M.  C.,  86  = W.,  ii.  32;  L.  D.,  iii.  93,  106  a. 

3 The  Pap.  Plarr. , i.  speaks  of  thirty  sorts  of  bread  used  in  the  temples.  (Piehl,  Diet,  du  pap. 
PI.,  p.  101).  The  word  bread  is  also  often  used  in  Egyptian  to  signify  food. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAl*. 


190 


Africa.1  They  obtained  finer  flour  however  by  rubbing  the  corn  between 
two  stones.  The  lower  larger  stone  was  fixed  and  sloped  towards  the 
front,  so  that  the  prepared  flour  ran  into  a little  hollow  in  the  front  of  the 
stone.  Under  the  Old  Empire  the  stone  was  placed  on  the  ground  and  the 
woman  who  was  working  it  had  to  kneel  before  it  ; under  the  Middle 
Empire  a table  hollowed  out  in  front  took  the  place  of  the  lower  stone,  the 
woman  could  then  stand,  and  her  work  was  thus  rendered  much  lighter.2 

The  second  thing  to  be  done  in  the  making  of  bread  was  the  kneading 
of  the  dough,  which  could  be  done  in  different  ways.  Shepherds,3  in 
the  fields  at  night,  baking  their  cakes  in  the  ashes,  contented  themselves 
with  “ beating  the  dough  ” in  an  earthen  bowl  and  lightly  baking  their 
round  flat  cakes  over  the  coals  of  the  hearth  or  in  the  hot  ashes  only. 
Little  sticks  served  as  forks  for  these  hungry  people  to  take  them  out  of  the 


SERVANT  CRUSHING  CORN. 
Limestone  statuette  at  Gizeh 
(after  Perrot-Chipiez). 


SERVANT  KNEADING  DOUGH. 

Limestone  statuette  at  Gizeh  (after  Perrot-Chipiez). 


glowing  embers,  but  before  they  could  eat  them  they  had  first  to  brush  off 
the  ashes  with  a wisp.  It  was  otherwise  of  course  in  a gentleman’s 
house.4  Here  the  dough  was  placed  in  a basket  and  kneaded  carefully 

1 The  pounding  of  the  corn— M.  E.  : Ros.  M.  C. , 67.  N.  E.  : L.  D. , iii.  93  ; W. , ii.  204  ; 
Ros.  M.  C.,  85  ( = W.,  ii.  32).  Cp.  also  the  Coptic  EYNE  “ Mill”  and  the  names  of  towns  such  as 

H In  one  of  these  towns  one  of  the  legends  of  the  gods  expressly  mentions  a miller. 

(Destr.  des  hommes,  1.  18). 

2 Grinding  between  stones— O.  E.  : Perrot,  74,  663,  664.  Statuette  in  Berlin,  No.  7706. 

M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  126  (=Ros.  M.  C.,  67,  7);  Ros.  M.  C.,  5,  6;  W.,  ii.  190.  The  model  of  the 

house  also  belongs  to  this  time,  \V.,  i.  351. 

3 Shepherds  baking  bread— O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  66  ( = Ros.  M.  C.,  84,  4) ; ib.  77  ; ib.  96,  105. 

4 Kneading  bread  in  a basket— O.  E.  : Perrot,  33,  661,  662  ; Br.  Die.  Suppl.,  p.  167.  M.  E.  : 

L.  D.,  ii.  126;  Ros.  M.  C.,  67,  1.  N.  E.  : Ros.  M.  C.,  84  ( = \V.,  ii.  34). 


IX 


THE  HOUSE 


191 


with  the  hands  ; the  water  was  pressed  out  into  a pot  placed  underneath 
the  basket.  The  dough  was  then  fashioned  by  the  hand  into  various 
shapes  similar  to  those  we  now  use  for  pastry,  and  these  were  baked  on  the 


SHAPES  OF  CAKES  OF  BREAD  UNDER  THE  MIDDLE  EMPIRE  (after  L.  D. , ii.  126,  128,  129). 

conical  stove.1  I purposely  say  on  the  stove,  for  the  Egyptians  seem  to 
have  been  satisfied  with  sticking  the  cakes  on  the  outside  of  the  stove. 
A picture  of  the  time  of  the  New  Empire  gives  us  a tolerable  idea  of  one 
of  these  stoves  ; it  is  a blunted  cone  of  Nile  mud,  open  at  the  top  and 


the  royal  bakery.  (From  the  tomb  of  Ramses  III.  After  Wilk.,  ii.  34,  where  by  mistake 
only  one  of  the  cakes  is  represented  below  on  the  left  as  stuck  on  the  stove. ) 


perhaps  three  feet  high.  The  fire  is  burning  in  the  inside,  the  flames 
burst  out  at  the  top,  and  the  cakes  are  stuck  on  the  outside. 

The  same  picture  shows  us  also  the  court-bakery  of  Ramses  III.2 
The  dough  here  is  not  kneaded  by  hand — this  would  be  too  wearisome  a 
method  when  dealing  with  the  great  quantities  required  for  the  royal 

1 Stoves — M.  E.  : Ros.  M.  C.,  67,  2,  cp.  those  of  the  Old  Empire,  Brupsch,  Gr.  W.,  159. 
N.  E.  : Ros.  M.  C.,  85  ( = W.,  11,  34). 

3 The  bakery  of  Ramses  III. — Ros.  M.  C.,  84  = W. , ii.  34. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


O 

192 


household — -it  is  trodden  with  the  feet.  Two  servants  are  engaged  in 
this  hard  work  ; they  tread  the  dough  in  a great  tub  holding  on  by  long 
sticks  to  enable  them  to  jump  with  more  strength.  Others  bring  the 
prepared  dough  in  jars  to  the  table  where  the  baker  is  working.  As 
court  baker  he  is  not  content  with  the  usual  shapes  used  for  bread,  but 
makes  his  cakes  in  all  manner  of  forms.  Some  are  of  a spiral  shape  like 
the  “ snails  ” of  our  confectioners  ; others  are  coloured  dark  brown  or  red, 
perhaps  in  imitation  of  pieces  of  roast  meat.  There  is  also  a cake  in  the 
shape  of  a cow  lying  down.  The  different  cakes  are  then  prepared  in 
various  ways — the  “ snails  ” and  the  cow  are  fried  by  the  royal  cook  in  a 
great  frying  pan  ; the  little  cakes  are  baked  on  the  stove. 

A special  part  of  the  royal  kitchen  is  “ the  pure,”  that  is  the  brewery 


WINE-JARS  ADORNED  WITH  WREATHS  AND 
embroidery  (wall  picture  in  tlie(  British 
Museum). 


ALABASTER  BOWL. 
Alnwick  Castle  Museum 
(after  Wilk. , ii.  42). 


in  which  beer  is  prepared.1  Beer  was  the  favourite  drink  of  the  Egyptian 
people,  and  even  the  deceased  in  their  state  of  bliss  could  not  get  on 
without  beer  any  more  than  without  bread.  This  drink  was  in  favour  at  all 
times  ; under  the  Old  Empire  men  made  four  sorts  of  beer,  amongst  these 
was  “ black  beer,”  i.e.  beer  of  a dark  colour;2  under  the  New  Empire  foreign 
beer  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Qede  in  the  east  of  Asia  Minor  was 
preferred  ; in  Greek  times  the  Egyptians  drank  Zythos  beer,  of  which 

1 f | An.,  4,  16,  3 = An.,  3,  8,  5.  “Superintendent  of  the  provision  of  the  brewery  : ” 

( J ITZ] 

Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1073.  The  nicr-est-u'ab  of  the  Middle  Empire  may  belong  here  (ib.  751). 

2 List  of  offerings  in  Dtimichen,  Grabpal.  of  Petamenap. 


IX 


THE  HOUSE 


1 v3 


Diodorus  says  that  its  smell  was  as  the  smell  of  wine.  We  know  little 
about  the  preparation  of  beer;  all  accounts  however  agree  that  it  was  made 
from  ground  barley,  or  as  it  was  called,  the  “ corn  of  Upper  Egypt.”  1 

Under  the  Old  Empire  the  Egyptians  squatted  for  their  meals,2  two 
people  generally  at  one  little  table,  which  was  but  half  a foot  high,  and  on 
which  was  heaped  up  fruit,  bread,  and  roast  meat,  while  the  drinking  bowls 
stood  underneath.  They  ate  with  their  hands,  and  had  no  compunction 
in  tearing  off  pieces  of  goose.  In  later  times  common  people  ate  in 
the  same  way,3  whilst  the  upper  classes  of  the  New  Empire  preferred  to 
sit  on  high  cushioned  chairs  and  to  be  waited  upon  by  men  servants  and 
female  slaves.4  After  eating,  water  was  poured  over  the  hands,  corre- 
sponding to  the  modern  Oriental  custom  ; in  the  dining-rooms,  therefore, 
we  often  find  a jug  and  basin  exactly  like  those  of  a modern  wash-stand.5 
In  ancient  Egypt  table  decoration  was  a fine  art.  Large  lotus  flowers 
were  used  for  the  dining  tables  ; and  under  the  New  Empire  the  jars  of 
wine  and  beer  were  always  adorned  with  covers  of  embroidered  work  ; 6 * 
“ wreaths  of  flowers  for  the  wine-jars  ” were  indispensable,  and  when  the 
court  travelled  through  a town  it  was  just  as  necessary  that  the  servants 
should  procure  the  ioo  wreaths  as  the  29,200  loaves  or  the  200  bushels 
of  coal.'  In  the  same  way  as  the  tables  were  decked  with  flowers,  the 
guests  at  the  banquet  were  adorned  with  sweet-smelling  flowers  and 
buds  ; they  wore  lotus  buds  in  their  hair,  and  held  them  out  to  each  other 
to  smell,  just  as  the  guests  amongst  other  nations  pass  glasses  of  wine 
to  each  other  at  the  present  day. 

This  custom  is  not  so  unimportant  as  some  might  think  ; it  is  founded 
on  the  love  of  flowers  and  green  plants  which  is  so  characteristic  of  the 
Egyptian  people.  Everywhere  on  the  monuments  we  meet  with  flowers  ; 
bouquets  of  flowers  are  presented  to  the  gods  ; the  coffins  are  covered  with 
wreaths  of  flowers  ; flowers  form  the  decoration  of  the  houses,  and  all  the 
capitals  of  the  pillars  are  painted  in  imitation  of  their  coloured  petals. 
The  Egyptian  also  loved  shady  trees.  He  not  only  prayed  that  the  “Nile 
should  bestow  every  flowering  plant  in  their  season  ” upon  his  departed 
soul,  but  also  that  his  soul  might  sit  “ on  the  boughs  of  the  trees  that  he 
had  planted,  and  enjoy  the  cool  air  in  the  shade  of  his  sycamore.”  8 The 
arable  fields,  the  shadeless  woods  of  palms,  the  bare  mud  soil,  scarcely 
provided  the  scenery  which  he  most  admired,  he  therefore  tried  to  supply 
the  want  by  landscape  gardening.  In  the  oldest  periods  there  were  parks 
and  gardens  ; 9 and  the  gentleman  of  ancient  Egypt  talked  with  pride  of  his 

1 Beer  from  barley  : Leps.  Totenb.,  124,  5.  Destruction  ties  homines,  1.  18,  and  all  the  Greek 
accounts.  From  the  “ corn  of  Upper  Egypt  ” : Diimichen,  List  of  offerings  of  Medinet  Ilabu,  p.  v. 
That  the  corn  of  Upper  Egypt  was  barley,  cp.  Br.  Die.  Suppl.,  460. 

2 L.  D.,  ii.  52.  3 L.  D.,  iii.  106  a. 

4 Cp.  the  illustrations  of  a feast  in  the  nth  chapter,  as  well  as  the  arrangement  of  the  dining- 

halls  in  our  plans  of  houses.  5 L.  D.,  iii.  93,  106  a. 

6 O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  98.  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  129.  N.  E.  : passim. 

7 An.,  4,  14,  6. 

8 Louvre,  C.  55,  and  many  similar  examples. 

O 


9 L.  D.,  ii.  7. 


• ffq 


194 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


shady  trees,  his  sweet-smelling  plants,  and  his  cool  tanks.  All  the  senti- 
ment with  which  we  regard  the  woods  and  meadows  of  nature,  the 
Egyptian  felt  towards  his  well-kept  garden  ; to  him  it  was  the  dwelling- 
place  of  love,  and  his  trees  were  the  confidantes  of  lovers. 

On  the  “ festival  day  of  the  garden,”  that  is,  on  the  day  when  the 
ardcn  was  in  full  bloom,  the  wild  fig-tree  calls  to  the  maiden  to  come 
ito  the  shade  of  the  fig  leaves  as  a trysting-place  : 

11  The  little  Sycamore 
Which  she  planted  with  her  hand, 

She  begins  to  speak, 

And  her  (words  are  as)  drops  of  honey. 

She  is  charming,  her  bower  is  green, 

Greener  than  (the  papyrus). 

She  is  laden  with  fruit, 

Redder  than  the  ruby. 

The  colour  of  her  leaves  is  as  glass, 

Her  stem  is  as  the  colour  of  the  opal  . . . 

It  is  cool  in  her  shadow. 

She  sends  her  letter  by  a little  maiden, 

The  daughter  of  her  chief  gardener 
She  makes  her  haste  to  her  beloved  : 

Come  and  linger  in  the  (garden)  . . . 

The  servants  who  belong  to  thee 
Come  with  the  dinner  things  ; 

They  are  bringing  beer  of  every  (kind), 

With  all  manner  of  bread, 

Flowers  of  yesterday  and  of  to-day, 

And  all  kinds  of  refreshing  fruit. 

Come,  spend  this  festival  day 

And  to-morrow  and  the  day  after  to-morrow  . . 

Sitting  in  my  shadow. 

Thy  companion  sits  at  thy  right  hand, 

Thou  dost  make  him  drink, 

And  then  thou  dost  follow  what  he  says  . . . 

I am  of  a silent  nature 
And  I do  not  tell  what  I see 
I do  not  chatter.”  1 

The  Pharaoh  shared  this  love  for  trees  and  flowers,  and  tried  to  turn 
his  city  into  a garden.  Ramses  III.  e.g.,  planted  trees  and  papyrus  plants 
in  Thebes,2  and  in  the  new  town  which  he  founded  in  the  Delta  he  made 
“ great  vineyards  ; walks  shaded  by  all  kinds  of  sweet  fruit  trees  laden  with 
their  fruit  ; a sacred  way,  splendid  with  flowers  from  all  countries,  with 
lotus  and  papyrus,  countless  as  the  sand.”  3 It  is  not  a mere  saying  that 
flowers  from  all  countries  were  planted  there  ; for  the  enjoyment  of  garden- 
ing and  of  raising  flowers  had  really  led  to  the  importation  of  exotic 
plants.  Three  hundred  years  previously  it  had  been  the  pride  of  Queen 
Chnemtamun  that  she  had  caused  “ thirty-one  growing  incense  trees  ” to 

1 From  the  love-songs  of  a Turin  papyrus  (Tur.,  79-83,  edited  by  Maspero,  Etud.  egypt., 

i.  p.  217  ff).  2 Iiarr.,  i.  7,  11. 

3 Harr.,  i.  8,  3-4.  “ Lotus  ” is  hypothetical. 


IX 


THE  HOUSE 


195 


be  brought  from  the  incense  countries  of  the  Red  Sea:1  Ramses  III, 
repeated  this  difficult  experiment  and  had  the  court  of  Amon  planted 
with  these  rare  shrubs.2 

Two  remarkable  pictures  from  Theban  tombs  of  the  time  of  the  New 
Empire  3 give  us  further  details  as  to  the  arrangement  of  the  gardens  and 
country  houses  of  the  upper  classes  ; in  each  we  see  that  the  proprietor 
loved  the  quiet  of  the  country.  A high  wall  shut  out  the  outside  world  ; 


After  Ros.  Mon.  Civ.,  69  (=Wilk. , i.  377). 


the  house  was  invisible  at  the  further  end  of  the  garden  under  the  shade  of 
old  trees,  and  only  approached  by  narrow  garden  paths.  The  gentleman 
who  owned  the  large  piece  of  ground  seen  in  the  above  plan,4  concealed 

1 Diim.,  Hist.  Inscrip.,  ii.  18.  2 Harr.,  i.  7,  7. 

a Besides  the  illustration  here  spoken  of,  see  the  above  illustration  of  a country  house. 

4 The  plan  mentioned  is  published,  Ros.  M.  C.,  69  ( = \Vilk.,  i.  3 77).  The  restoration  of  the 
garden  offers  no  difficulties,  the  Egyptian  painter  has  evidently  forgotten  to  put  in  the  two  gates  in 

the  upper  part  of  the  picture  but  they  can  be  restored  from  the  lower  part.  The  restoration  of  the 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


196 


his  house  in  the  furthest  corner  of  the  garden  ; no  sound  from  the  stirring 
life  on  the  canal  could  penetrate  his  seclusion,  no  profane  eye  could  see 
his  house  over  the  walls  or  over  the  tops  of  the  trees. 

A high  castellated  wall  surrounds  the  piece  of  ground,  which  is  almost 
square ; there  is  no  entrance  except  in  front,  where  a broad  flight  of  steps 
leads  down  from  the  large  porter’s  lodge  to  two  small  doors  which  open 
upon  the  canal.  Through  the  chief  entrance,  adorned  with  the  name  of 
the  reigning  king,  we  pass  out  of  a small  door  directly  into  the  vine- 
yard, which  is  seen  in  the  centre  of  the  plan.  The  luxuriant  vines  with 
their  large  purple  grapes  are  trained  on  trellis-work  built  up  with  stone  ; 
through  these  vine-walks  the  path  leads  straight  up  to  the  house. 

If  we  pass,  however,  through  either  of  the  side  doors  we  come  to  a 
part  of  the  garden  resembling  a small  park  ; here  there  is  a fish-pond 
surrounded  with  palms  and  shrubs.  Part  of  this  garden  is  separated  off 
by  a wall,  inside  which  are  trees  of  a light  green  colour  ; this  may  be  a 
nursery  plantation,  or  it  may  contain  rare  trees. 

Two  doors  lead  out  of  this  garden  ; one  into  the  palm-garden  which 
occupies  a narrow  strip  on  either  side  of  the  piece  of  ground,  the  other 
door  leads  into  the  hinder  portion  of  the  garden.  Whether  we  enter 
the  right  or  left  side  we  now  come  again  to  a “ cool  tank,”  and  to  rest 
here  was  the  delight  of  the  Egyptian.  A pretty  little  arbour  stands  at  the 
head  of  the  pond  ; here  the  master  would  sit  in  the  evening  and  watch  the 
water-birds  at  their  play  in  the  water  amongst  the  lotus  and  papyrus  plants. 

Finally  at  the  back,  surrounded  by  a double  row  of  palms  and  high 
trees,  lies  the  house  itself,  apparently  an  irregular  one-storied  building. 
The  principal  part  is  built  against  the  back  wall  of  the  vineyard  and 
has  three  rooms  opening  into  the  garden.  On  the  left  side  a wing  is  built 
out  which  seems  to  be  higher  than  the  central  portion  ; it  has  two  doors 
in  front  and  two  windows  at  the  side.  The  whole  house  is  strikingly 
bare,  and  the  monotony  of  the  timber  walls  is  only  somewhat  relieved  by 
the  pillars  and  frames  of  the  windows  and  by  the  gaily  coloured  hollow 
below  the  roof.  There  is  no  reason  why  this  building  should  be  more 
richly  decorated.  It  is  quite  hidden  amongst  the  trees,  and  passers-by 
would  be  sufficiently  impressed  by  seeing  the  stately  lodge  in  front. 

The  form  of  the  garden  here  given  seems  to  have  been  that  usual  in 
the  older  periods.  In  the  beautiful  park  laid  out  by  the  oft-named  ‘Amt'en, 
chief  hunter  to  King  Snefru,  he  had  “ dug  a great  tank  and  planted  fig- 
trees  and  vines.”  “ In  the  middle  of  the  garden  ” (exactly  as  in  our  plan) 
“ he  made  a vineyard,  which  yielded  him  much  wine.”  1 

It  was  very  natural  that  the  Egyptians  should  think  so  much  of  the 
vineyard,  for  though  beer  was  the  great  national  drink,  yet  at  all  times 
wine  was  a favourite  beverage.  Under  the  Old  Empire  they  distin- 
guished six  sorts  of  wine,  eg.  white,  red,  black,  and  northern  wine. 

house  is,  notwithstanding,  very  difficult  ; I have  chosen  the  easiest  solution,  yet  it  seems  very  excep- 
tional that,  with  a garden  laid  out  so  carefully  and  symmetrically,  the  house  should  have  been  so 
unsymmetrical.  1 After  L.  D.,  ii.  7. 


IX 


THE  HOUSE 


197 


The  latter  corresponded  to  the  various  Delta  wines,  the  Mareotic,  the 
Sebennytic,  and  the  Teniotic  wines,  which  enjoyed  such  a high  reputation 
in  Graeco- Roman  times.  Vines  were  much  grown  throughout  the  country  ; 
for  instance,  Ramses  III.  planted  “vineyards  without  number”  in  the 
southern  and  northern  oases,  as  well  as  many  others  in  Upper  and  Lower 
Egypt.  He  appointed  foreign  slaves  to  till  them,  and  dug  “tanks  with 
lotus  flowers  ” growing;  in  them.1  Above  all  he  undertook  the  care  of  the 
celebrated  mountain  vineyard  called  Ka-en-Qemet,  the  genius  of  Egypt, 
w'hich  yielded  “ sweet  wine.”  2 This  great  vineyard,  which  was  “ inundated 
like  the  two  countries,  whose  large  olive-trees  were  full  of  fruit,  which  was 
surrounded  by  a long  wall  and  planted  with  great  trees  by  all  the  paths, 
which  yielded  oil  as  the  sand  of  the  sea-shore,”  3 — was  the  great  garden- 
plot  of  the  temple  of  the  Theban  Amon,4  to  which  temple  at  any  rate  it 
belonged  from  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Ramses  III.,  who  confirmed  this 
gift  of  his  ancestors  and  founded  a treasure-house  and  a sanctuary  in  it.5 

The  pictures  of  the  Old  Empire  show  us  how  vines  were  grown 
and  cultivated.6  They  wrere  trained  over  trellis-work  supported  by  wooden 
forks,  or,  in  the  time  of  luxury  of  the  6th  dynasty,  borne  by  wooden  pillars. 
Much  care  wras  taken  in  their  cultivation  ; the  individual  plants  wrere 
watered  from  earthen  pots,  and  the  swarms  of  birds  were  frightened  away 
with  cries  and  slings.  After  the  grapes,  which  seem  to  have  been  of  a 
curious  long  shape,  had  been  picked  and  collected  in  baskets,  they  were 
carried  to  the  wine-press,  which  was  of  the  most  primitive  kind,  like  those 
still  to  be  seen  in  the  south  of  Europe.  It  consisted  of  a long  low  box 
over  which  was  erected  a wooden  framework  higher  than  a man.  The 
box  being  filled  with  grapes,  five  or  six  men  then  stepped  into  it,  raised 
their  arms  and  grasped  the  upper  boards  of  the  framework,  and  trod  the 
grapes  with  their  feet  ; we  see  by  the  quick  movement  of  their  feet  that 
they  had  to  hold  on  to  the  boards  to  keep  themselves  from  falling.  Under 
the  New  Empire  the  shape  of  these  wine-presses  was  more  convenient  and 
more  artistic;  the  workmen  held  on  by  cords,  this  gave  them  scope  for  freer 
movement,  and  as  the  wine  was  pressed  out  it  ran  through  the  openings 
below  into  great  vats.7 

However  carefully  the  men  might  tread  out  the  grapes  there  would 
always  remain  a certain  amount  of  the  sweet  juice,  which  could  only  be  ex- 
tracted by  more  energetic  measures.  The  careful  Egyptian  did  not  despise 
this  residuum,  but  obtained  it  by  squeezing  the  pressed  grapes  in  a sack.  A 
great  sack  of  light  yellow  matting  was  filled  writh  grapes  and  then  wrung 

1 Harr.,  i.  7,  10-11.  2 An.,  3,  2,  6.  3 Harr.,  i.  8,  5 ff. 

4 Cp.  the  wine-jars  which  came  from  that  temple,  A.  Z.,  1883,  34. 

5 Harr.,  i.  8,  8 ff. 

B Grape-harvest:  L.  IX,  ii.  53,  61,  1 1 1 . Watering  of  the  vines:  Diim.  Res.,  8.  Scarecrows: 
L.  D.,  ii.  53,  61.  Treading  of  the  grapes  : L.  D.,  ii.  53,  61,  96,  111.  Diim.  Res.,  8.  Wine-press 
with  the  sack  : L.  D.,  ii.  13,  49,53,  96,  hi.  Diim.  Res.,  8 (exceptional).  Filling  jars:  L.  D.,ii. 
!3>  49)  53>  Hi-  Fastening  up:  L.  D.,  ii.  13,  61.  Sealing:  L.  D.,  ii.  96.  An  instructive  picture 
of  the  New  Empire:  L.  D.,  iii.  II  d. 

7 Grape-harvest  and  wine-press  of  the  New  Empire:  Wilk.,  i.  385.  L.  D.,  iii.  n d.  In  the 
latter  picture  the  workmen  seem  to  be  holding  on  to  a cloth. 


198 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAr. 


like  a piece  of  linen  from  the  wash-tub.  Sticks  were  put  through  the  two 
loops  which  were  formed  of  the  ends,  and  it  was  then  wrung  by  four 
powerful  men.  Each  turn  of  the  sack  made  the  work  harder,  at  last  it 
became  impossible  to  turn  the  sticks  again,  the  sack  was  twisted  as  far  as 
it  would  go,  and  if  the  workmen  gave  way  in  the  least,  it  would  untwist 


THE  WINE-PRESS  OF  THE  NEW  EMPIRE. 

Above  on  the  right  is  a little  temple  to  the  goddess  of  the  harvest,  before  whom  has  been  placed  an 
offering  of  grapes  and  wine  on  this  harvest  day.  Below  is  seen  the  filling  of  the  great  wine-jars 
with  jugs  (after  Wilk. , i.  385.  Theban  tomb  picture). 


itself.  At  this  critical  moment  we  see  how  the  men  show  their  greatest 
skill.  Two  hold  the  sticks  firmly  at  the  lower  ends,  two  others  jump  on 
their  backs,  seize  the  sticks  at  the  upper  ends  and  pull  them  back,  a fifth 
swings  himself  up  between  the  two  sticks  and  presses  them  apart  with  his 

hands  and  feet.  This  feat  does 
not  go  unrewarded,  the  wine  flows 
out  in  a dark  stream  into  the 
earthenware  jar  standing  below. 
This  is  the  usual  method  of  pro- 
cedure under  the  Old  Empire. 

We  have  no  account  of  the 
further  process  in  the  treatment  of 
the  grape  juice,  we  only  see  how 
the  wine  jars  were  filled  from  the 
great  vats,  how  they  were  fastened  up,  and  how,  finally,  they  were  sealed 
by  the  treasurer.  As  a matter  of  course  we  see  the  scribes  sitting  close 
by  and  noting  down  the  number  of  jars  of  wine  that  are  filled. 

Under  the  New  Empire,  as  in  Greek  and  Roman  times,  it  was  a 
favourite  custom  to  mix  several  sorts  of  wine  together.  The  following 
picture  shows  us  how  they  filled  a large  vessel  by  siphons  with  three  sorts 


IX 


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199 


of  wine  ; the  festive  decoration  of  the  vessels  indicates  that  this  mixing  is 
taking  place  at  the  time  of  a feast. 

We  must  not  forget  to  mention  the  fig-tree,  which  together  with  the 
vine  was  grown  at  all  periods 
in  ancient  Egypt.  We  meet 
with  the  fruit  everywhere, 
and  we  also  find  representa- 
tions of  the  trees  in  the  old 
tombs.1  The  fig-trees  have 
thick  gnarled  trunks,  and 
seem  scarcely  to  reach  1 6 
feet  in  height  ; their  boughs 
however,  are  strong  enough 
to  allow  the  gardeners  to 
climb  up  and  gather  the 
fruit  into  flat  baskets.  When 
the  gardeners  are  unable  to 
climb  up  into  the  trees 
themselves,  they  send  tame  monkeys  into  the  branches  to  gather  the  fruit 
for  them,  as  we  see  in  the  illustration  below. 

1 Fig  harvest  : L.  D.,  ii.  53,  61,  127. 


MONKEYS  HELPING  WITH  THE  FIG  HARVEST  (after  L.  D.,  ii.  127). 


HEAD  OF  NEFERHOR,  KEEPER  OF  THE  GRANARY  ARCHIVES 
(Berlin  Museum,  2303  ; his  wife  sits  by  him). 


CHAPTER  X 
DRESS 

As  long  as  we  regarded  the  antiquities  of  ancient  Egypt  as  unknown 
quantities,  and  contented  ourselves  with  marvelling  at  them  as  wonderful 
curiosities,  the  strange  impression  of  the  whole  made  us  overlook  the 
various  differences  between  the  individual  monuments.  Even  when  we 
had  gradually  learnt  to  divide  Egyptian  history  into  its  long  epochs,  it 
was  still  a good  while  before  our  sight  became  sharp  enough  to  recognise 
in  all  their  significance  the  great  differences  between  the  productions  of 
these  several  epochs.  P'or  a long  time  men  spoke  of  Egyptian  art, 
Egyptian  religion,  and  Egyptian  language  as  if  they  had  not  experienced 
any  very  great  changes  during  three  thousand  years,  and  made  up  their 
minds  that  the  Egyptian  character  was  one  peculiarly  conservative.  Now 
we  know  that  there  is  no  justification  for  this  conclusion.  During  the 
three  thousand  years  of  their  history,  the  language,  the  faith,  and  the  art 
of  the  ancient  Egyptians  changed  neither  more  nor  less  than  that  of  any 
other  nation  under  the  same  conditions  ; it  was  solely  owing  to  our  want 
of  knowledge  that  we  underestimated  these  differences  for  so  long. 

This  holds  good  also  about  dress,  a point  which  amongst  civilised 
people  is  perhaps  subject  to  most  changes.  It  is  altogether  false  to  speak 
of  “ the  Egyptian  costume  ” as  expressing  one  style  of  dress,  for  it  was 


CHAP.  X 


DRESS 


201 


just  as  much  ruled  by  fashion  as  the  dress  of  other  nations.  Under  the  Old 
Empire  a short  skirt  was  worn  round  the  hips;  under  the  Middle  Empire 
a second  was  added  ; and  under  the  New  Empire  the  breast  also  was 
covered.  If  we  look  closer  we  find  many  other  changes  within  these 
great  epochs.  If  during  one  century  the  skirt  was  worn  short  and  narrow, 
during  the  next  it  would  be  worn  wide  and  shapeless,  whilst  during  a third 
it  was  fashionable  only  when  peculiarly  folded.  The  various  classes  are  also 
distinguished  by  their  costume, — the  royal  costume  differs  from  that  of  the 
courtiers,  and  the  household  officials  of  the  great  lords  are  not  dressed  like 
the  servants,  the  shepherds,  or  the  boatmen.  Evidently  here  also  fashion 
ruled  : the  costume  of  the  higher  classes  was  soon  imitated  by  those  next 


beneath  them  ; it  then  lost  its  fashionable  character, — the  great  lords  relin- 
quished it  to  the  people,  and  assumed  a new  one.  Thus  after  the  close  of 
the  5 th  dynasty  the  old  royal  costume  was  imitated  by  the  great  lords  of 
the  kingdom,  and  later  it  passed  down  to  be  the  official  dress  of  the 
higher  artisans  ; thus  the  same  costume  in  which  the  courtiers  of  King 
Snefru  appeared  at  court  was  worn  not  long  afterwards  by  household 
officials. 

We  must  also  add  other  distinctions  ; the  old  men  wore  longer 
warmer  clothing  than  the  young  men,  and  for  the  king’s  presence  men 
dressed  better  and  more  fashionably  than  for  the  home  or  for  the  hunt. 
The  material  on  this  subject  is  inexhaustible,  and  deserves  more  detailed 
consideration  than  is  possible  within  the  narrow  limits  of  this  book.  I 


SIMPLEST  FORM  OF  SKIRT 
(after  L.  D. , ii.  4). 


SKIRT  REACHING  BELOW  THE  KNEE 

Dyn.  IV.  (after  L.  D. , ii.  9). 


202 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


must  content  myself  with  bringing  forward  the  principal  types  of  the 
various  dresses.1  The  reader  however  will  I hope  receive  the  impression 


that,  in  spite  of  the  simplicity  of  its 
component  parts,  dress  was  subject 
to  comparatively  frequent  changes. 

The  most  ancient  dress  worn 
by  persons  of  high  rank  seems  to 
have  been  the  simple  short  skirt 
which  was  the  foundation  of  all 
later  styles  of  dress.  It  consisted  of 
a straight  piece  of  white  stuff,  which 
was  wrapped  rather  loosely  round 
the  hips,  leaving  the  knees  un- 
covered. As  a rule  it  was  put 
round  the  body  from  right  to  left, 
so  that  the  edge  came  in  the  middle 
of  the  front.  The  upper  end  of 
this  edge  was  stuck  in  behind  the 
bow  of  the  girdle  which  held  the 
skirt  together.2  In  the  beginning 


THKEE  PICTURES  OF  SENED'm-’EB,  CALLED  MEHY 
(Dyn.  V.),  with  the  skirt  unusually  broad  (L.  D. , ii.  74,  78). 


1 The  material  at  hand  for  these  researches  is  very  abundant,  but  the  difficulties  in  turning  it  to 
account  are  so  great,  that  I must  beg  for  special  indulgence.  Those  who  have  studied  more  statues 
than  I have  will  doubtless  differ  from  my  opinion  in  many  particulars.  The  clothing  on  the  reliefs 
is  treated  very  superficially,  and  becomes  quite  unintelligible  in  the  publications  where  the  original 
colours  are  left  out.  Besides,  for  artistic  reasons  the  dress  is  often  drawn  inaccurately  on  the  reliefs 
and  frescoes,  nearly  always  in  fact  when  the  person  is  represented  looking  to  the  left. 

- The  skirt  is  white  : L.  D. , ii.  19.  That  the  girdle  was  separate  from  the  skirt  is  probable  from 
the  picture,  L.  D.,  ii.  112. 


X 


DRESS 


203 


of  the  4th  dynasty  we  find  that  even  the  great  lords  were  content  with 
this  dress  in  its  simplest  form  ; 1 more  usually  however,  even  under  the 
Old  Empire,  it  was  the  dress  of  scribes,  servants,  and  peasants.2 

After  the  time  of  Cha‘fre‘,  the  builder  of  the  second  pyramid,  it  became 
the  fashion  to  wear  the  skirt  longer  and  wider  ; at  first  this  innovation 
came  in  with  moderation,3  but  towards  the  close  of  the  5 th  dynasty  it 
exceeded  good  taste,  and  we  can  scarcely  understand  how  a beau  at  the 
court  of  King  Un’e  managed  to  wear  this  erection  in  front  of  him — 
perhaps  he  had  a support  to  hold  it  out.  Under  the  6th  dynasty  we 


SKIRT  WITH  ERECTION  IN  FRONT.  SKIRT  WITH  ERECTION  IN  FRONT. 

(Representation  of  Nebemchut.  After  L.  D.,ii.  13.)  (Statue  of  Uerchuu.  After  L.  D.,  ii.  44.) 

meet  with  the  same  costume  though  not  so  much  exaggerated.  The 
servants  and  peasants  of  this  time  began  to  wear  their  skirts  wider,4  the 
household  officials  of  the  great  lords  having  already  set  them  an  example 
in  this  direction.5 

There  is  a strange  variation  in  this  skirt,  which  appears  to  have  been 
in  much  favour  amongst  the  great  lords  of  the  5th  and  6th  dynasties  ; by 
some  artificial  means  they  managed  to  make  the  front  of  the  skirt  stand 
out  in  a triangular  erection.  There  were  several  slight  differences  in  this 
fashion.  If  the  edge  of  the  skirt  formed  a loose  fold  it  was  regarded 
merely  as  a variation  of  the  ordinary  dress  ; if  on  the  other  hand  the 


1 L.  D.,  ii.  3,  4. 
3 L.  D.,  ii.  8,  9. 


2 L.  D.,  ii.  4,  8,  22,  25,  32,  44,  45,  63,  etc. 

4 L.  D.,  ii.  105.  6 L.  D.,ii.  69. 


204 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


erection  was  quite  symmetrical  and  reached  above  the  girdle,1  then  it  was 
considered  to  be  quite  a novel  and  quaint  costume. 

In  addition  to  these  various  forms  of  the  short  skirt,  we  meet  with 
exceptional  cases  of  men  wearing  long  dresses,  reaching  from  the  waist 
to  the  feet.-  The  deceased  are  represented  in  this  dress  when  seated 
before  the  tables  of  offerings,  receiving  the  homage  of  their  friends  still 


GALA  SKIRT  WITHOUT  BORDER. 
(Statue  of  Nofer  at  Gizeh.  After  Perrol- 
Chipiez,  628. ) 


GALA  SKIRT  WITH  GOLD  BORDER. 
(Statue  of  Ra'nofer  at  Gizeh.  After  Perrot- 
Chipiez.  655.) 


living;  it  is  doubtless  the  dress  of  an  old  man,  the  same  as  was  worn 
probably  just  before  death. 

In  addition  to  these  every-day  costumes,  the  great  lords  of  the  Old 
Empire  possessed  one  intended  only  for  festivals.  As  is  usual  in  such 
cases,  this  festive  costume  does  not  resemble  the  fashionable  dress  of  the 

1 We  suspect  that  this  erection  (like  a similar  one  in  the  dress  of  the  New  Empire)  may  have 
been  a separate  piece  of  stuff  from  the  skirt,  fastened  on  in  front  to  the  girdle. 

2 L.  D.,  ii.  3,  6 (plainly  characterised  as  an  old  man),  23,  30,  31  b. 


X 


DRESS 


205 


time,  but  follows  the  more  ancient  style.  It  is  in  fact  merely  a more 
elegant  form  of  the  old,  narrow,  short  skirt  ; the  front  is  rounded  off  so 
that  it  falls  in  little  folds,  and  the  belt  is 
fastened  by  a pretty  metal  clasp.  In  spite 
of  numerous  representations,  it  is  difficult 
to  see  how  this  clasp  was  made  ; the 
narrow  ornamented  piece,  which  is  nearly 
always  raised  above  it,  is  perhaps  the  end 
of  the  girdle  ; it  is  certainly  not  the  handle 
of  a dagger,  as  has  been  generally  supposed. 

Finally,  the  fore -part  from  the  middle  of 
the  back  was  often  further  adorned  by  a 
pleated  piece  of  gold  material,  thus  forming 
a very  smart  costume.1 2  To  complete  this 
festive  garb  a panther  skin  was  necessary, 
which  was  thrown  over  the  shoulders  by 
the  great  lords  when  they  appeared  in  “ full 
dress.”  The  right  way  of  wearing  this  skin 
was  with  the  small  head  and  fore  paws  of  the 
animal  hanging  down,  and  the  hind  paws  tied 
together  with  long  rib- 
bons over  the  shoulder. 

It  was  the  fashion, 
when  sitting  idle,  to 
play  with  these  ribbons 
with  the  left  hand." 

During  the  dark  ages  which  elapsed  between  the 
6th  and  12th  dynasties,  dress  underwent  no  great 
change  ; the  skirt  meanwhile  became  a little  longer, 
so  that  it  reached  to  the  middle  of  the  leg.3  Under 
the  Middle  Empire  it  again  became  narrower  and 
less  stiff ; for  this  purpose  it  was  slightly  sloped  in 
front,  and  hung  rather  lower  than  behind.  Between 
the  legs,  if  possible,  it  was  the  right  thing  to  show 
one  or  two  points,  which  belonged  to  the  inner  part 
of  the  skirt.4  Men  also  liked  to  decorate  the  outer 
edge  with  an  embroidered  border,5  or  to  pleat  the 
front  prettily.6  Ordinary  people  wore  this  skirt  of  thick  material,  but 
men  of  high  rank,  on  the  contrary,  chose  fine  white  material  so  transparent 


GALA  SKIRT  WITH  GOLD  BORDER. 
(Prince  Ner’eb.  After  L.  D. , ii.  20.) 


SIMPLE  SKIRT  OF  THE 
MIDDLE  EMPIRE. 
(Official  of  Chnemhotep. 
L.  D. , ii.  131. ) 


1 E.g.  the  statue  94  in  the  Berlin  Museum,  as  well  as  one  in  the  Louvre  A,  46,  102,  105.  That 
this  pleated  material  is  golden  we  see  by  the  pictures,  L.  D.,  ii.  19,  20,  21.  Louvre  A,  102  ; A, 
105.  It  is  white,  ib.  A,  46. 

2 Cp.  L.  D.,  ii.  18,  19,  21,  22,  23,  30,  31  b,  32,  etc.  Perhaps  it  was  the  prerogative  of  a certain 

high  rank.  3 L.  D.,  ii.  126,  127,  130,  131. 

4 L.  D.,  ii.  127,  130,  1 31.  Plainly  seen  in  the  statue  at  Berlin  of  Sebekemsaf  (brother  of  queen 
Nubch'as).  Berlin  1188  in  the  sons  of  the  deceased,  but  not  in  his  servants. 

5 L.  D.,  ii.  126,  127.  6 L.  D. , ii.  126,  127. 


206 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


that  it  revealed  rather  than  concealed  the  form  of  the  body.  It  was  then 
necessary  to  wear  a second  skirt  under  the  transparent  outer  one.  Those 
who  had  the  right  to  wear  the  Shend'ot,  the  short  royal  dress,  liked 

to  wear  it  as  the  inner  skirt.1  Con- 
temporary with  this  double  skirt,  which 
marks  a new  epoch  in  the  history  of 
Egyptian  dress,  appears  the  first  clothing 
for  the  upper  part  of  the  body.  One  of 
the  princes  of  the  Nome  of  the  Hare,  who 
were  buried  at  Bersheh,  wears,  as  is  seen 
in  the  illustration  below,  a kind  of  mantilla 
fastened  together  over  the  chest.2  In  a 
second  representation  the  same  lord  ap- 
pears in  a most  unusual  costume  ; he  is 
wrapped  from  head  to  foot  in  a narrow 
dress  apparently  striped ; such  a dress  seems 
to  have  been  worn  by  old  men  under  the 
Middle  Empire.3 

During  the  interval  between  the 
Middle  and  the  New  Empire  there  was 
little  innovation  in  dress,  but  the  more 
stylish  forms  of  men’s  clothing  entirely 
superseded  the  simpler  fashions.  The 
priests  alone  kept  to  the  simple  skirt  ; all  other  persons  wore  an  outer 


DOUBLE  SKIRT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  EMPIRE. 
(The  nomarch  Chnemhotep. 

L.  D.,  ii.  13 1.) 


UNUSUAL  COSTUMES  OF  THE  MIDDLE  EMPIRE. 


transparent  skirt  and  a short  inner  one,  both  of  which  still  retained  the 
old  shape.4 

1 Inner  skirts  of  the  usual  kind  : L.  D.,  ii.  128,  130,  131,  134  d.  Royal  skirt : L.  D.,  ii.  130. 

2 L.  D.,  ii.  134  b,  d. 

3 L.  D.,  ii.  134  e.  Also  ib.  126  (Chnemhotep),  127  (the  old  servants  of  the  latter). 

4 L.  D.,  iii.  9 f,  10  a,  12  a,  and  others,  62  b,  69  a.  Very  great  lords  wore  also  the  royal 
skirt  underneath  : L.  D.,  iii.  9 e. 


DRESS 


207 


The  rapid  development  of  the  Egyptian  Empire,  and  the  complete 
revolution  in  all  former  conditions,  soon  brought  in  also  a quick  change 
of  fashion.  About  the  time  of  Queen  Chnemtamun  dress  assumed  a new 
character.  It  became  customary  to  clothe  the  upper  part  of  the  body 
also,  a short  shirt  firmly  fastened  under  the  girdle  was  adopted  now  as  an 
indispensable  article  of  dress  by  all  members  of  the  upper  class  ; the  priests 
alone  never  followed  this  fashion.  To  promote  free  movement  of  the 
right  arm  this  shirt  appears  to  have  been  open  on  the  right  side,  while 
the  left  arm  passed  through  a short  sleeve.1  During  this  period  each 
generation  adopted  its  own  particular  form  of  skirt.  At  first  the  inner 


OF  THE  TIME  OK  AMEN- 
HOTEP  III. 

The  outer  skirt  is  longer 
than  the  inner  (after 
L.  D. , iii.  77  e). 


OF  THE  TIME  OF  CHUEN- 
’ETEN. 

The  outer  skirt  is  raised,  the 
inner  one  has  become  longer 
(after  L.  D. , iii.  101). 


COSTUME  OF  THE  FIRST 
HALF  OF  THE  18TH 
DYNASTY  (L.  D.  , iii. 

12  a). 


skirt  remained  unchanged  whilst  the  outer  one  was  shortened  in  front  and 
lengthened  behind.2 

Towards  the  close  of  the  1 8th  dynasty,  under  the  heretic  king  Chuen- 
’eten,  the  inner  skirt  was  worn  wider  and  longer,  whilst  the  upper  one  was 
looped  up  in  puffs,  so  as  to  show  the  under  one  below  it.  The  front  of 
the  outer  one  was  formed  of  thick  pleats,  the  inner  one  also  was  often 
pleated,  and  the  long  ends  of  the  girdle  were  allowed  to  hang  down.3 

In  the  gala  costume  of  this  period  the  outer  skirt  grew  to  be  of  less 
significance  than  the  inner.  The  latter  developed  into  a wide  pleated 
dress,  whilst  the  former  retrograded  into  a piece  of  linen  folded  round  the 


1 In  several  pictures  the  shirt  appears  to  be  open  on  both  sides,  and  to  be  sleeveless,  whilst  at 
the  same  time,  in  other  postures  of  the  arm,  the  sleeve  is  plainly  visible.  Again  in  figures  standing 
facing  the  right,  the  disposition  of  the  dress  in  the  pictures  is  changed,  and  the  sleeve  appears 
on  the  right  arm.  Shirts  with  two  distinct  sleeves  are  rare,  though  the  governor  of  Ethiopia  certainly 
wears  one;  L.  D.,  iii.  230. 

Part  of  a picture  (representation  of  an  offering)  in  the  British  Museum,  L.  D.,  iii.  69  a,  77  e. 

J E.g.  L.  D.,  iii.  91  a,  93,  101,  104;  Wilk.,  i.  442.  The  inner  skirt  pleated  in  front : L.  D., 
iii.  97  e,  103.  Berlin,  7316. 


208 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


hips.  At  the  same  time  we  find  very  various  costumes  in  the  repre- 
sentations,— sometimes  the  piece  of  linen  is  wrapped  round  the  body  in 
such  a way  as  to  cover  the  back  of  the  legs  behind  and  yet  to  be  quite 
short  in  front;1  sometimes  it  assumes  the  form  of  the  ancient  skirt;2 
sometimes  it  is  wound  twice  or  thrice  round  the  body.3 


FESTIVE  COSTUMES  OF  THE  END  OF  THE  l8TH  DYNASTY, 
i.  The  oft-mentioned  'Ey  with  the  gold  ornaments  bestowed  on  him  by  the  king,  L.  D. , iii.  105. 
2.  Amenhotep,  the  governor  of  Ethiopia,  ib.,  115.  3.  His  colleague  Huy,  ib.  116. 


COSTUME  OF  THE  19TH  DYNASTY 

(L.  D. , iii.  176  f). 


COSTUME  OF  THE  20TH  DYNASTY  WITH  A PIECE  OF  MATERIAL 

put  on  in  front  (L.  D. , iii.  217  a,  231). 


The  dress  of  the  great  lords  of  the  19th  dynasty  corresponds  very 
nearly  to  that  of  the  great  men  of  the  time  of  Chuen’eten  described 

above,  except  that  the  puffs  of  the  outer  skirt  were  smoothed  out,  and 

that  it  was  worn  somewhat  longer  during  the  later  period.4 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  105.  2 L.  D.,  iii.  115.  3 L.  D.,  iii.  115,  116.  Berlin,  7278,  7316 

4 L.  D.,  iii.  128  b,  153,  162,  176  f,  183  b. 


X 


BEESS 


209 


In  the  time  of  Ramses  III.  a fashion  was  adopted  which  had  already 
been  employed  for  festive  garments  ; 1 the  outer  skirt,  which  was  only  used 
for  ornamental  purposes,  was  entirely  given  up,  and  a broad  piece  of 
material,  cut  in  various  shapes,  was  fastened  on  in 
front  like  an  apron.2 

Meanwhile  the  clothing  of  the  upper  part  of  the 
body  remained  essentially  the  same,  though  after  the 
time  of  the  19th  dynasty  it  was  worn  fuller  than 
before.3  We  sometimes  find  also  a kind  of  mantle, 
which  fits  the  back  closely  and  is  fastened  together 
in  front  of  the  chest.  The  kings  usually  appear  in 
it  ; 4 other  people  only  wear  it  on  festive  occasions.3 

In  addition  to  the  usual  forms  of  dress,  the  de- 
velopment of  which  we  have  just  considered,  there 
were  at  all  periods  certain  garments  which  were  only 
worn  by  individuals  of  rank,  and  which  we  must 
conclude  to  be  robes  of  office.  We  must  of  course 
give  the  first  place  to  the  royal  costume  of  the  king, 
the  skirt  with  the  lion’s  tail  and  with  the  ends 

, , rr  . . . . . . A , RAMSES  II.  IN  A CLOAK. 

rounded  off,  between  which  hung  down  the  narrow 

strip  of  stuff  which  was  the  most  ancient  symbol  of  royalty.  We  have 
already  shown  (p.  59)  how  this  costume  became  more  splendid  in  course 
of  time,  and  we  may  well  surmise  that  those  changes 
were  due  in  great  part  to  the  spirit  of  imitation  ; 
the  great  lords  tried  as  far  as  possible  to  dress  like  the 
Pharaoh.  The  festive  costume  of  the  Old  Empire 
was  the  first  result  of  imitation  ; the  edge  in  the 
front  of  the  skirt  was  rounded  off  and  adorned  with 
golden  embroidery,  so  that  the  wearer  should  in  his 
dress,  when  seen  at  any  rate  from  the  right  side, 
resemble  His  Majesty.  It  is  only  towards  the  close 
of  the  5th  dynasty  that  we  first  occasionally  meet 
with  a costume  exactly  resembling  the  royal  skirt, 
except  that  it  was  not  made  of  gold  material  nor 
furnished  with  a lion’s  tail.  It  was  worn  as  a hunting 
costume  under  the  Middle  Empire  as  well  as  in  the 
older  form  of  the  royal  beginning  of  the  New  Empire,  when  men  of  high 
rank  wore  it  when  hunting  birds  or  spearing  fish.” 

1 E.g.  under  King  Haremheb  in  a funeral  procession.  Wilk.,  iii.,  plates  67,  68.  Cp.  also 
L.  D.,  iii.  1 17. 

- L.  D.,  iii.  217  a,  229,  230,  231.  In  order  rightly  to  understand  this  costume,  see,  e.g.,  statues 
2303,  2287,  in  the  Berlin  collection. 

3 E.g.  L.  D.,  iii.  153,  183  b,  214.  In  the  latter  instances  the  skirt  seems  to  pass  through  the 
girdle,  so  that  it  covers  the  back. 

4 L.  D.,  iii.  1,  91  a,  92,  98  b,  ioi,  1 1 5,  etc.  Cp.  also  the  above  plate  iv.  representing  the  Turin 

statue  of  Ramses  II.  5 Wilk.,  iii.,  plates  67,  68. 

6 O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  60.  Berlin,  1118,  11x9.  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  130  (alike  also  in  the  length  of 
the  royal  beard).  N.  E.  : L.  D.,  iii.  9 e ; Wilk.,  ii.  107. 

P 


210 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Under  the  Middle  Empire  however  it  appears  that  a law  was  passed 
limiting  such  imitations,  and  the  wearing  of  the  Shend'ot  (the  royal  skirt) 


CHNEMHOTEP  HUNTING  BIRDS  (after  L.  D. , ii.  130) 


was  only  granted  to  certain  dignitaries.  Many  great  lords  of  the  12th 
dynasty  expressly  claim  this  privilege,  and  in  later  times  the  high  priests 
of  the  great  sanctuaries  bear  as  one  of  their  proudest 
titles  wearer  of  the  Shend'ot } These  limitations 

were  not  of  much  use,  and  in  the  time  of  confusion 
between  the  Middle  and  the  New  Empire  the  royal 
skirt  was  adopted  by  an  even  wider  circle.  Under 
the  1 8th  dynasty  the  chiefs  of  all  the  departments 
wore  it  on  official  occasions,  and  even  when  they  gave 
way  to  the  fashion  of  the  time  and  wore  an  outer 
long  skirt,  they  fastened  the  latter  up  high  enough 
for  the  symbol  of  their  office  to  be  visible  under- 
neath.2 Officials  whose  duties  were  very  circum- 
scribed, such  as  the  “ chief  of  the  peasants,”  or  the 
“ chief  of  the  waggoners,”  chief  masons,  sailors,  and 
drivers  of  the  time  of  the  New  Empire,  often  wore 


AFTER  A WALL  PICTURE  IN 
A THEBAN  TOMB  (now  in 
the  British  Museum). 


skirts  very  much  resembling  the  Shend'ot :3 


We  may  regard  as  another  token  of  high  rank 

passim.  The  high  priest  of  Memphis  wears  a very  similar  skirt  as  early  even  as 

the  4th  dynasty.  Mar.  Mast.,  74  75.  - L.  D.,  iii.  76  a,  b,  77  c. 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  10,  41,  76  a,  77  b.  The  middle  piece  in  the  case  of  these  subordinate  officials  is 
often  longer  and  more  pointed. 


X 


DRESS 


21  I 


the  strips  of  white  material  which  great  lords  of  the  Old  Empire  so  often 
wound  round  the  breast  or  body,1 2  when  they  put  on  their  gala  dress  ; or 
allowed  to  hang  down  from  the  shoulders,-  when  in  their  usual  dress  they 
went  for  a walk  in  the  country  ; or  when  they  went  hunting.  A broad 
band  of  this  kind  was  no  protection  against  the  cold  or  the  wind,  it  was 
rather  a token  by  which  the  lord  might  be  recognised.  In  the  same 
way  the  overseer  of  the  fishermen  or  labourers  was  known  by  a narrow 
band  round  the  neck.3  The  narrow  ribbons,  which  we  so  often  see  great 
men  of  all  periods  holding  between  their  fingers,  may  have  the  same 
signification.4 

Another  dress,  seen  at  the  first  glance  to  be  a robe  of  office,  is  that  of 
the  chief  judge  and  governor,  who  was  the  highest  official  of  the 
Egyptian  government  ; he  wore  a narrow  dress 
reaching  from  the  breast  to  the  ankle,  held  up 
by  two  bands  fastened  with  a metal  clasp  behind 
at  the  neck.  This  great  lord  wore  his  head  shaven 
like  the  priests — probably  because  he  was  also 
ex  officio  the  high  priest  of  the  goddess  of  truth.5 
We  shall  speak  later  of  the  many  changes  in 
the  dress  of  the  priests  and  of  the  soldiers. 

Let  us  now  cast  a glance  on  the  clothing  of 
the  lower  classes,  which  was  essentially  different 
from  that  of  the  upper  classes  considered  above. 

Subordinate  officials  are  generally  rather  behind 
the  fashion;  under  the  Middle  Empire  they  wore 
for  instance  the  short  skirt  of  the  Old  Empire, 
and  under  the  New  Empire  the  longer  one  of 
the  Middle  Empire.  The  people  proper  how- 
ever, — the  peasants,  shepherds,  workmen,  ser-  After  a rough  sketch  on  a lime- 

vants, — always  contented  themselves  with  a very  stone  s'ab  (Insc-  m the  hier- 

r char.  i. ) 

simple  costume.  When  dressed  for  the  presence 

of  their  master  they  generally  wore  a short  skirt  of  the  kind  that  was 
fashionable  at  the  beginning  of  the  4th  dynasty.6  When  at  work  it  was 
put  on  more  loosely,  and  with  any  violent  movement  it  flapped  widely 
apart  in  front.7 

This  skirt  was  generally  of  linen  ; yet  certain  shepherds  and  boatmen 
of  the  Old  Empire  appear  to  have  contented  themselves  with  a clothing 
of  matting  ; these  men  are  remarkable  also  for  the  curious  way  of  wearing 
their  hair  and  beard,  corresponding  to  that  of  the  oft-mentioned  marsh 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  19,  22,  23,  72,  86,  89,  etc. 

2 L.  D.,  ii.  9,  12,  19.  3 L.  D.,  ii.  12,  107. 

4 Under  the  O.  E.,  e.g.  L.  D.,  ii.  74  b.  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  131.  N.  E.  ; passim. 

5 L.  D.,  iii.  121  a.  Inscr.  in  the  hier.  char.,  i.  Berlin  Museum,  2290.  Louvre  A,  72. 

6 O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  4,  8,  19,  21,  22,  25,  etc.  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  127,  131,  etc.  N.  E.  : L.  D., 

iii.  3 a,  26,  41,  94,  105  a,  etc.  Wilk.,  ii.  34. 

7 O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  13,  24,  25,  32,  33  b,  etc.  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  126,  127.  N.  E.  : L.  D.,  iii. 
10  a. 


212 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


m HM 


o . 
\\ 


The  labourers  of  the  New  Empire  also  wore  rough 


skirts  of  matting,  which  they  were  wont  to  seat  with  a piece  of  leather.2 
Finally,  people  who  had  to  move  about  much,  or  to  work  on  the  water,3 
wore  nothing  but  a fringed  girdle  of  the  most  simple  form  like  that  still 
worn  by  many  of  the  African  tribes,  a narrow  strip  of  stuff  with  a few 
ribbons  4 or  the  end  of  the  strip  itself  hanging  down  in  front.5  A girdle 
of  this  kind  could  not,  of  course,  cover  the  body  much,  the  ribbons  were 
displaced  with  every  movement,  and  the  boatmen,  fishermen,  shepherds, 
and  butchers  often  gave  it  up  and  worked  in  Nature’s 
costume  alone.0  The  feeling  of  shame  so  strongly 
developed  with  us  did  not  exist  in  ancient  Egypt  ; 
the  most  common  signs  in  hieroglyphics  sometimes 
represented  things,  now  not  usually  drawn. 

According  to  our  ideas  it  becomes  a woman 
rather  than  a man  to  love  dress  and  finery  ; the 
Egyptians  of  the  Old  Empire  however  held  a con- 
trary opinion.  Compared  with  the  manifold  costumes 
for  men,  the  women’s  dress  appears 
to  us  very  monotonous,  for  during 
the  centuries  from  the  4th  to  the 
1 8th  dynasty,  the  whole  nation, 
from  the  princess  to  the  peasant, 
wore  the  same  dress.  This  con- 
sisted of  a simple  garment  without 
folds,  so  narrow  that  the  forms  of 
the  body  were  plainly  visible.  It 
reached  from  below  the  breasts  to 
the  ankles  ; two  braces  passed  over 
the  shoulders  and  held  it  up  firmly. 

In  rare  instances  the  latter  are 
absent,7  so  that  the  dress  is  only 
prevented  from  slipping  down  by 
its  narrowness.  The  dress  and  braces  are  always  of  the 
same  colour,8  white,  red,  or  yellow ; in  this  respect  also 
there  existed  no  difference  between  that  of  mother  and 
daughter,  or  between  that  of  mistress  and  maid.  In  the 
same  way  all  wore  it  quite  plain,  unless  perhaps  the  hem  at  the  top  might 
be  somewhat  embroidered.9 

It  is  very  rarely,  as  we  have  said,  that  we  find  dresses  of  a different 


the  old  empire  (Prin- 
cess Sed'et,  Dyn.  IV. 
After  L.  D. , ii.  21). 


e’t’e,  wife  of  se- 
CHEMKA  (Louvre 
A.  102,  after  Perrot- 
Chipiez). 


1 L.  D.,  ii.  69,  and  frequently.  2 L.  D.,  iii.  40.  Wilk. , ii.  100. 

3 O.  E.  : Butchers;  L.  D.,  ii.  4,  24,  25.  Shepherds;  ib.  23,  24,  35.  Boatmen;  ib.  28,45. 
Fishermen  ; ib.  9,  46.  Birdcatchers  ; ib.  46.  N.  E.  : Corn  workers  ; L.  D.,  iii.  10.  Temple 
cooks  ; ib.  96.  Sailors  ; Diim.  Flotte,  i. 

4 Under  the  O.  E.  at  most  two  or  three  ; seldom  four  (L.  D.,  ii.  56)  or  more  (ib.  24). 

5 L.  D.,  ii.  9,  12  b,  106.  6 L.  D.,  ii.  9,  12  b,  20,  43.  7 Mistress  ; L.  D.,  ii.  15. 

8 White;  L.  D.,  ii.  83,  90.  Red;  ib.  19,  20,  21.  Yellow;  ib.,  57  58. 

9 L.  D.,  ii.  5,  8 c,  1 1,  15. 


X 


DRESS 


213 


fashion.  ’Et’e,  wife  of  Sechemka,  the  superintendent  of  agriculture,  wears 
a white  dress  richly  embroidered  with  coloured  beads,  covering  the  breasts 
and  cut  down  in  a V between  them.  It  is  worn  with  a belt  and  has 
therefore  no  braces.  Another  dress,  which  we  find  rather  more  frequently, 
covers  the  shoulders  though  it  has  no  sleeves  ; the  neck  also  is  generally 
cut  down  in  a V.1  In  the  following  illustration,  representing  the  beautiful 


lady  of  the  old  empire  in’  A cloak  (Statue  of  Xofret,  Gizeh,  after  Perrot-Chipiez). 


statue  of  Nofret,  the  wife  of  the  high  priest  Ra'hotep,  is  seen  a cloak 
which  is  worn  over  the  usual  dress. 

Under  the  Middle  Empire  women’s  dress  seems  to  have  changed  but 
little,  and  in  the  beginning  also  of  the  1 8th  dynasty  the  modifications 
were  but  trifling;2  contemporary  however  with  the  changes  in  men’s  dress 
which  followed,  it  assumed  a new  character,  due  partly  to  the  great 
political  change  in  the  position  of  Egypt  in  the  world.  Following  the 

1 Perrot,  637,  659.  L.  D.,  ii.  57  (under  a dress  with  braces  ?)  ib.  58  (the  neck  is  cut  out  in  a round). 

2 It  is  characteristic  of  these  later  periods  that  one  or  both  of  the  braces  should  be  left  off ; M.  E. : 
with  two  or  with  one,  L.  D.,  ii.  128  ; without  any,  ib.  130.  N.  E.  : with  both  embroidered,  L.  D., 
iii.  9 f.  ; with  one,  ib.  9 d,  42  ; without  any,  ib.  9 e. 


14 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


new  fashions  of  the  day,  women  wore  two  articles  of  clothing — a narrow 
dress  leaving  the  right  shoulder  free,  but  covering  the  left,  and  a wide 
cloak  fastened  in  front  over  the  breast;  as  a rule  both  were  made  of  such 
fine  linen  that  the  forms  of  the  body  were  plainly  visible.1  The  hem 
of  the  cloak  was  embroidered,  and,  when  the  wearer  was  standing  still, 
hung  straight  down.  In  course  of  time,  under  the  New  Empire,  this 


costume  evidently  underwent  many  changes,  all  the  details  of  which  are 
very  difficult  to  follow,  because  of  the  superficial  way  in  which  the 
Egyptian  artist  represented  dress.  On  every  side  we  are  liable  to 
make  mistakes.  If  we,  for  instance,  take  the  picture  here  given  of  the 
princess  Bekten‘eten  by  itself  we  should  conclude  that  the  lady  was 
wearing  a single  white  garment,  it  is  only  when  we  compare  it  with  the 

1 E.g.  L.  D.,  iii.  62  c.  Wall  pictures  in  the  Brit.  Mus.  (see  the  plates  in  the  following  chapter) : 
Berlin,  2297,  7278,  8041.  Incidentally  we  may  mention  that  the  Greek  figures  of  Isis  wear  this 
cloak  fastened  together  between  the  breasts. 


X 


DRESS 


215 


more  detailed  contemporary  picture  of  a queen  that  it  is  possible  rightly 
to  understand  it.  In  both  cases  the  same  dress  and  cloak  are  worn  ; but 
while  in  the  one  case  the  artist  has  given  the  contours  of  both  articles  of 
dress,  in  the  other  he  has  lightly  sketched  in 
the  outer  edges  only,  and  thus  as  it  were  given 
the  dress  in  profile.  Even  then  he  is  not 
consistent ; he  shows  where  it  is  cut  out  at  the 
neck  and  where  the  cloak  falls  over  the  left 
arm,  but  he  quite  ignores  that  it  must  cover 
part  of  the  right  arm  also.1 

Under  these  circumstances  I shall  content 
myself  with  bringing  forward  the  most  im- 
portant types  which  can  be  distinguished  with 
some  certainty  in  women’s  dress  of  the  time 
of  the  19th  and  20th  dynasties.  The  next 
development  was  to  let  the  cloak  fall  freely 
over  the  arms  as  shown  in  the  accompanying 
illustration  ; ' soon  afterwards  a short  sleeve 
was  added  for  the  left  arm,  whilst  the  right 
still  remained  free.3  Finally,  towards  the  close 
of  the  20th  dynasty,  a thick  underdress  was 
added  to  the  semi-transparent  dress  and  the 

. FEMALE  COSTUME  OF  THE  END  OF 

open  cloak.4  We  have  one  costume  which  the  i8th  dynasty  (after  i„  d., 
deviates  much  from  the  usual  type,  and  which  10°-  See  also  lllustratl0n> 

p.  46). 

belongs  certainly  to  the  second  half  of  the  New 

Empire ; it  is  seen  on  one  of  the  most  beautiful  statues  in  the  Berlin 
museum  ;5  it  consists  of  a long  dress  which  seems  to  have  two  sleeves,  a 
short  mantilla  trimmed  with  fringe  on  the  shoulders,  and  in  front  a sort  of 
apron  which  falls  loosely  from  the  neck  to  the  feet.  We  noticed  above 
the  dress  of  a man  in  which  in  similar  wise  a kind  of  apron  hung  down 
from  the  belt : the  representation  of  the  husband  of  this  lady  shows  us 

that  both  these  fashions  were  in  vogue  at  the  same  time.  Contemporary 

with  the  complicated  forms  of  female  costume  we  sometimes  meet  with 
a very  simple  one,  a plain  shirt  with  short  sleeves,  reaching  up  to  the 
neck  ; this,  however,  seems  only  to  have  been  worn  by  servants.6 

The  dress  of  the  women  of  the  lower  classes  never  differed  much  from 
that  of  the  ladies  ; peasant  women  and  servants  for  the  most  part  wore 
clothes  of  almost  the  same  style  as  those  of  their  mistresses.  Their  dress 
allowed  of  very  little  movement,  and  could  not  therefore  be  worn  for  hard 
work,— at  such  times  women  like  men  were  contented  to  wear  a short  skirt 
which  left  the  upper  part  of  the  body  and  the  legs  free.7  The  dancing 

1 I need  scarcely  observe  that  those  same  difficulties  arise  more  or  less  in  all  Egyptian  representa- 
tions of  dress.  2 L.  D.,  iii.  93,  94,  97  a,  e,  117,  172  e. 

3 I..  D. , iii.  184  a,  186,  196,  201  a,  202  f. 

4 L.  D.,  iii.  229,  230,  231  a.  These  pictures  show  also  the  sleeve  of  the  cloak  particularly 

clearly.  5 Berlin,  2303.  6 L.  D.,  iii.  42,  91  a.  Wilk.,  i.  392. 

7 O.  E.  : Perrot,  662,  664.  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  126,  127. 


2l6 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAf. 


girls  of  ancient  times,  doubtless  from  coquettish  reasons,  were  wont  to 
prefer  the  latter  dress  decked  out  with  all  sorts  of  ornaments  rather  than 
a more  womanly  costume.1  For  similar  reasons  the  young  slaves  under 
the  New  Empire,  who  served  the  lords  and  ladies  at  feasts,  wore  as  their 
only  article  of  clothing  a strip  of  leather  which  passed  between  the  legs, 
and  was  held  up  by  an  embroidered  belt  (see  the  two  plates  in  the  follow- 
ing chapter)  ; the  guests  liked  to  see  the  pretty  forms  of  the  maidens.2 

Considered  as  a whole,  the  development  of  female  dress  followed  very 
much  the  same  course  as  that  of  the  men.  In  both  cases  under  the  Old 
Empire  the  forms  were  very  simple  ; there  was  little  change  till  the 
beginning  of  the  New  Empire,  at  which  time,  with  the  great  rise  of 
political  power,  there  was  a complete  revolution  in  dress.  In  both  cases 


CLOAK  WITH  THE  ARMS  FREE 
(after  L.  D. , iii.  217  e). 


CLOAK  WITH  SLEEVE 

(Dvn.  XX.  After  L.  D. , iii.  2). 


CLOAK  WITH  SLEEVE  AND  A 
DOUBLE  DRESS 
(after  L.  D. , iii.  231  a). 


the  change  consisted  in  the  introduction  of  a second  article  of  clothing, 
and  the  two  new  dresses  correspond  with  each  other  in  possessing  a 
sleeve  for  the  left  arm  only,  while  the  right  arm  is  left  free  for  work. 
Another  remarkable  coincidence  is  that  at  the  same  time  in  the  clothing 
of  both  sexes  appearance  seems  so  much  to  have  been  studied.  It  is  quite 
possible  that  these  changes  were  effected  in  some  degree  by  foreign  inter- 
course,— how  far  this  was  the  case  we  cannot  now  determine.  This 
influence,  however,  could  only  have  affected  details,  for  the  general 
character  of  Egyptian  dress  is  in  direct  contrast  to  that  which  we  meet 
with  at  the  same  time  in  North  Syria.  The  Syrians  wore  narrow,  close- 
fitting,  plain  clothes  in  which  dark  blue  threads  alternated  with  dark 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  36,  61  a,  ioi  b,  126. 

2 Theban  wall-pictures  now  in  the  Brit.  Mus.  tYilk. , ii.  353. 


X 


DRESS 


217 


red,  and  these  were  generally  adorned  with  rich  embroidery.  In  Egypt 
wide  robes  with  many  folds  of  white  transparent  linen  were  worn,  without 
any  adornment,  the  merit  of  this  clothing  consisting 
in  the  absolute  purity  and  the  finest  texture.  It 
was  really  not  thus  originally  in  ancient  Egypt. 

The  dress  of  the  Old  Empire  appears  sometimes 
to  have  been  made  of  thick  material;1  in  the  oldest 
period  the  dress  of  women  is  more  often  coloured 
than  white,2  and  under  the  Middle  Empire  it  is 
sometimes  green  and  sometimes  of  various 
colours.3  Colour  disappeared  disproportionately 
early  from  the  dress  of  the  men,4  and  though, 
according  to  the  inscriptions,  red,  green,  or  blue 
material  is  still  said  to  be  required  by  the  divinities 
or  by  the  deceased,5  this  had  long  been  replaced 
amongst  the  living  by  fine  white  linen. 

This  proscription  of  colour  was  doubtless  due 
to  the  desire  for  more  absolute  cleanliness  of  body; 
the  same  wish  which  led  the  Egyptians  to  shave 
both  hair  and  beard.  It  was  natural  that  with 
such  ideas  those  workmen  whose  duties  were  to 
wash  the  clothes,  played  a special  part,  and 


SYRIAN  AMBASSADOR  IN  THE 
TIME  OF  TUET-‘ANCH-AMUN. 
In  the  original  the  threads  of 
the  dress  are  alternately  blue 
and  red  (after  L.  D. , iii. 
116). 


“ The  washer,  he  who  washes  on  the  dyke, 

Neighbour  to  the  crocodile  as  he  swims  up  stream,” 


is  a favourite  figure  in  poetry.0  We  have  already  remarked  (p.  62)  that 
the  “ royal  chief  washer  ” and  the  “ royal  chief  bleacher  ” were  amongst 

1 E.g.  the  statue,  Perrot,  637. 

2 White;  L.  D.,  ii.  96.  Red;  ib.,  19,  21.  Yellow;  ib. , 57,  58.  Many  coloured;  Louvre 
A,  102. 

3 Green  ; Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab. , 620.  Many  coloured  ; Berlin,  13.  As  a rule  however  white  under 
the  Middle  Empire  ; Berlin,  1183,  1188. 

4 Again  yellow  ; L.  D.,  ii.  55,  57,  and  Berlin,  1109  (Dyn.  VI.).  Otherwise  as  far  as  I can  judge 
always  white  or  white  with  gold.  Under  the  6th  dynasty  in  several  instances  (Berlin,  7764,  7765), 
striped  materials,  whether  coloured  cannot  be  determined. 

5 Cp.  on  the  names  of  these  colours,  Br.  Die.  Suppl.,  172. 

0 Sail.,  2,  8,  2 ff=An.,  7,  3,  5 ff.  Similar  instances,  e.g.  An.,  4,  10,  5.  D’Orbiney,  10,  8 ff. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


the  higher  court  officials.  In  the  domestic  life  of  private  houses  the  great 
washing  day  was  an  important  event,  important  enough  to  be  introduced 
into  the  series  of  pictures  in  the  tombs.1  Three  pictures  of  the  time  of  the 
Middle  Empire  represent  workmen  watched  by  the  chief  washer  busy  at 
small  tanks  with  the  washing  and  wringing.  We  see  them  beating  the 
wet  clothes  with  wooden  staves  ; they  sprinkle  them  holding  their  arms 
up  high  ; they  hang  one  end  of  the  folded  piece  of  linen  over  a post,  put 
a stick  through  the  other  end,  and  wring  it  with  a good  deal  of  force. 
They  then  stretch  and  fold  up  the  linen,  and  finally  the  chief  washer  packs 
it  up  in  a great  bundle.  Washing  and  bleaching  however  were  not  con- 
sidered all  that  was  necessary  for  good  laundry  work  ; ingenious  methods 
were  also  devised  to  mark  the  folds  required  by  fashion,  and  which  the 
fine  linen  would  scarcely  assume  by  itself.  By  what  means  exactly  the 
Egyptians  contrived  to  do  this  we  can  scarcely  decide,  though  it  is  an 
interesting  conjecture  of  Wilkinson’s  that  these  regular  folds  in  the  dresses 


WOODEN  INSTRUMENT  IN  THE  MUSEUM  AT  FLORENCE. 

The  hollows  are  represented  below  in  their  original  size  (after  Wilk.,  i.  185). 


were  pressed  in  by  means  of  a board  such  as  is  shown  in  the  accompanying 
illustration. 

The  character  of  the  dress  of  a nation  however  does  not  depend 
merely  upon  clothes  ; the  ornaments,  the  shoes,  and  the  manner  of  dress- 
ing the  hair  are  all  important  elements.  In  Egypt  the  latter  was  of  great 
importance,  and  we  must  treat  it  in  more  detail.  It  has  often  been  main- 
tained that  the  ancient  Egyptians,  like  their  modern  descendants,  shaved 
their  heads  most  carefully,  and  wore  artificial  hair  only.  The  following 
facts  moreover  are  incontrovertible:  we  meet  with  representations  of  many 
smoothly  shaved  heads  on  the  monuments,  there  are  wigs  in  several 
museums,2  and  the  same  person  had  his  portrait  taken  sometimes  with 
short,  at  other  times  with  long  hair.  Herodotos  also  expressly  states  of 
the  Egyptians  of  his  time  that  they  shaved  themselves  from  their  youth 
up,  and  only  let  their  hair  grow  as  a sign  of  mourning.  An  unprejudiced 
observer  will  nevertheless  confess,  when  he  studies  the  subject,  that  the 
question  is  not  so  simple  as  it  seems  at  first  sight.  The  same  Herodotos 
remarks,  for  instance,  that  in  no  other  country  are  so  few  bald  heads  to 

1 Representations  of  washing  at  Beni  Hasan  : L.  D.,  ii.  126  (with  inscriptions  above).  W.,  ii. 
173  (only  4-13).  Ros.  M.  C.,  42,  1-2. 

2 London  (Wilk.,  ii.  329),  Berlin  (ib.  330),  Gizeh  several  (Maspero  Guide,  p.  332),  one  in  Paris. 


X 


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be  found,  and  amongst  the  medical  prescriptions  of  ancient  Egypt  are 
a number  of  remedies  for  both  men  and  women  to  use  for  their  hair.  Still 
more  important  is  it  to  observe  that  in  several  of  the  statues  belonging  to 
different  periods  little  locks  of  natural  hair  peep  out  from  under  the  edge 
of  the  heavy  wigs.1  We  must  therefore  conclude  that  when  a man  is 


THE  HEAD  OF  THE  DWARF 
AT  GIZEH. 


CONVENTIONAL  REPRESENTATION 
OF  THE  SAME  WIG. 


HEAD  OF  THE  SCRIBE  AT 
THE  LOUVRE. 


said  to  be  shaven  we  are  as  a rule  to  understand  that  the  hair  is  only  cut 
very  short,  and  that  those  persons  alone  were  really  shaven  who  are 
represented  so  on  the  monuments,  viz.  the  priests  of  the  New  Empire. 

As  a fact  the  monuments  of  the  Old  Empire  show  that  short  hair 
(as  seen  in  the  accompanying  illustrations)  was  originally  the  fashion  for 
all  classes  ; 'J  for  the  shepherd  and  the  boatman  as  well  as  for  the  prince, 
and  was  even  worn  by  those  in  court  dress.3  At  the  same  time  the  great 


LITTLE  CURLS  OVER  THE 
CROWN  OF  THE  HEAD  (after 
L.  D.,  iii.  290). 


CONVENTIONAL  REPRESENTATION 
OF  THE  SAME  WIG. 


THE  LITTLE  CURLS  OVER  THE 

forehead  only  (after  L. 
D.,  ii.  21). 


lords  possessed  also  a more  festive  adornment  for  their  heads  in  the  shape 
of  great  artificial  coiffures.  Amongst  them  we  must  distinguish  two 
kinds  of  wigs,  the  one  made  in  imitation  of  short  woolly  hair,  the  other 
of  long  hair.  The  former  consisted  of  a construction  of  little  curls 
arranged  in  horizontal  rows  lapping  over  each  other  like  the  tiles  of  a 

1 In  the  head-dresses  of  ladies  of  the  O.  E.  : Perrot,  141,  142,  658,  plate  viii.  In  the  case  of  a 
lady  of  the  N.  E.  : Berlin,  7278  ; in  the  case  of  a man  : Berlin,  2296. 

2 Sometimes  (Louvre  A,  102  ; ib.  Salle  civile  6)  the  short-cut  hair  is  only  indicated  by  a grey 

colour,  whilst  a lock  of  hair  (on  the  1st  statue)  is  coloured  black.  The  other  colours  of  these  coiffures 
are  striking— white,  L.  D.,  ii.  19,  57,  58;  yellow,  ib.  90;  red,  ib.  19.  3 L.  D.,  ii.  8 b,  11. 


220 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


roof ; 1 as  a rule  very  little  of  the  forehead  was  visible,  and  the  ears  were 
quite  covered  as  well  as  the  back  of  the  neck.  The  details  vary  in  many 
particulars,  though  this  description  is  correct  as  a whole.  The  little  curls 

are  sometimes  triangular, some- 
times square ; the  hair  is  some- 
times cut  straight  across  the 
forehead,  sometimes  rounded  ; 
in  many  instances  the  little 
curls  begin  up  on  the  crown 
of  the  head,  in  others  high  on 
the  forehead  ; other  differences 
also  exist  which  can  be  as- 
cribed only  to  the  vagaries  of  fashion.  It  strikes  us  as  humorous  that  the 
people  should  ape  this  attire  of  their  masters  ; in  the  earliest  times  the 
master  alone  and  one  or  two  of  his  household  officials  wore  this  wig,  but 
in  the  time  of  the  5 th  dynasty  we  have  many  representations  of  workmen, 


i.ong  CURLY  WIG  (after  Perrot, 
655). 


LONG  CURLY  WIG 
(after  the  picture  of 
Uerchuu  from  L.  D., 
ii.  44  a). 


conventional  representations  of  this  head-dress  (after  the  picture  of  Cha'fre'a'nch 
from  L.  D. , ii.  9 ; and  the  picture  of  Mehy  from  L.  D. , ii.  74  c). 

shepherds,  or  servants  adorned  with  this  once  noble  head-dress.  On  the 
other  hand  the  second  wig,  that  of  long  hair,2  seems  never  to  have 
been  displaced  from  its  exclusive  position,  although  it  was  certainly  a 
more  splendid  head-dress  than  the  stiff  construction  of  little  curls.  In 
the  long-haired  wig  the  hair  fell  thickly  from  the  crown  of  the  head  to  the 
shoulders,  at  the  same  time  forming  a frame  for  the  face  ; while  round 
the  forehead,  and  also  at  the  ends,  the  hair  was  lightly  waved.  The 
individual  tresses  were  sometimes  twisted  into  spiral  plaits. 

Nevertheless,  this  marvel  of  the  Egyptian  wig-maker’s  art,  with  all  the 
variations  which  it  admitted,  did  not  content  the  dandy  of  the  Old  Empire  ; 

1 Good  examples  of  the  usual  forms  of  wigs  — to  the  crown  of  the  head  : L.  D.,  iii.  289,  10  ; 
290,  13,  14,  16  ; L.  D.,  ii.  23,  36,  c.  To  the  forehead  : L.  D.,  iii.  288,  2,  4,  L.  D. , ii.  5,  10  b,  19, 
Perrot,  644.  Cut  round  on  the  forehead  : Perrot,  637,  141.  Cut  square  on  the  forehead  : Perrot,  659, 
142.  Conventional  drawing  of  the  same : L.  D.,  ii.  9, 10  a (only  discernable  by  the  ear  being  hidden). 
Black:  L.  D.,  ii.  19,  57  c.  Dark  grey:  L.  D.,  ii.  19.  Light  yellow:  L.  D.,  ii.  57  a.  Carried 
by  people  : L.  D.,  ii.  45  c,  d,  66,  67-70.  Diim  Res.,  8,  9.  A very  unusual  shape,  L.  D.,  ii.  50  b. 

2 Good  examples  of  long  wigs — Front  view  : L.  D.,  ii.  11,  44;  Perrot,  p.  10,  655.  Side  view: 
L.  D.,  iii.  288,  3,  5,  289,  7-9  ; L.  D.,  ii.  3,  9,  25,  27.  Waved  : L.  D.,  ii.  89,  iii.  288,  3.  Twisted 
tresses  : Diim.  Res.,  8,  9,  12  (Dyn.  V.)  The  ear  visible  : L.  D.,  ii.  43  b. 


X 


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221 


and  he  exerted  himself  to  make  his  head-dress  still  more  imposing.  A 
certain  Shepsesre',  who  held  the  office  of  superintendent  of  the  south  at 
the  court  of  King  ’Ess’e,  must  have  been  specially  anxious  to  excel  in  this 
respect.  He  caused  four 
statues  to  be  prepared 
for  his  tomb  each  repre- 
senting him  in  a special 
coiffure.  In  two  he 
wears  the  usual  wigs, 
in  the  third  his  hair  is 
long  and  flowing  like 
that  of  a woman,  and  in 

fourth  he  wears  a SHORT-HAIRED  wigs  (sftcr  L.  D.,  iii.  77  e,  115.  Cp.  Also  the 
. head  of  the  scribe,  p.  210). 

wig  of  little  curls,  which 

reaches  down  to  the  middle  of  his  back.1  The  latter  must  have  been  an 
invention  on  the  part  of  the  wig-maker,  for  it  would  be  impossible  ever 
to  dress  a man’s  natural  hair  in  such  a wonderful  manner.  The  same 
might  be  said  of  the  wig  which  became  the  ruling  fashion  under  the  6th 
dynasty.  This  consisted  of  a senseless  combination  of  the  two  earlier 
forms  ; the  long-haired  coiffure,  the  whole  style  of  which  is  only  possible 
with  long  tresses,  being  divided,  after  the  fashion  of  the  other,  into  rows 
of  little  curls,  though  its  waving  lines  were  retained.2 

Under  the  Middle  Empire  there  was  little  change  in  the  fashion  of 


HEAD-DRESSES  WHICH  COVER  THE  SHOULDERS  (after  L. 


wearing  the  hair.  The  men  of  the  upper  classes  still  seem  to  have  kept 
to  the  two  ancient  forms  of  wig,3  while  the  lower  classes  let  the  hair  grow 
freely  ; 4 neither  did  the  fashion  change  immediately  on  the  expulsion  of 
the  Hyksos,  but  only  with  the  rise  of  the  Egyptian  political  power.5  From 
this  time,  viz.  from  the  second  half  of  the  I 8th  dynasty,  fashions  evidently 
rapidly  succeeded  each  other,  and  we  are  not  always  able,  from  the 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  64  bis.  2 L.  D.,  ii.  no  f,  g,  in  d ; Berlin,  7764,  7765. 

" The  shorter,  L.  D.,  ii.  121,  128,  130  ; the  longer,  ib.  126,  129,  131.  In  both  the  ear  is  often 
left  uncovered.  4 L.  D.,  ii.  126,  132. 

5 Short  wigs  : L.  D.,  iii.  i.  Long  ones  : ib.  9 e.  With  little  curls  : ib.  39  c.  Very  long  ones 
hanging  down  the  back  : ib.  9 f,  10  a. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


222 


material  at  our  command  to  say  exactly  how  long  one  single  fashion 
lasted.  We  may  distinguish  two  principal  coiffures,  a shorter  one  often 
covering  the  neck,  and  a longer  one  in  which  the  thick  masses  of  hair 

hung  down  in  front  over  the  shoulders. 
Both  occur  in  numerous  more  or  less 
anomalous  varieties.  A simple  form  of 
the  shorter  coiffure  is  shown  in  the 

accompanying  representation  of  the  head 
of  Cha‘emhe‘t,  the  superintendent  of  gran- 
aries ; straight  hair  hangs  down  all  round 
the  head,  being  cut  even  at  the  back.1 
As  a rule  however  men  were  not  content 
with  anything  so  simple  ; fashion  de- 
manded curly  hair,'2  or  at  least  a fringe  of 
little  curls  framing  the  face,  and  a single 
tress  hanging  down  loosely  at  the  back.3 

After  l.  D. , m.  77  a.  Cp.  also  the  The  seGOnd  coiffure,  which  covers  the 

frontispiece  to  this  chapter. 

shoulders,  does  not  differ  much  in  its 
simplest  form  from  the  shorter  one  ; generally  however  it  is  a far  more 

stately  erection.4  The  ends  of  the  hair  as  well  as  the  hair  round  the 

face  are  also  sometimes  curled5  in  a charming  though  rather  unnatural 
manner,  as  we  see  in  representations  of  several  great  men  of  the  i 8th  and 


WIG  OF  LONG  HAIR 
(after  L.  D. , ii.  21). 


WIG  OF  SHORT  HAIR 
(after  Perrot,  plate  ix. ). 


WIG  OF  LONG  HAIR 
(Perrot,  659). 


19th  dynasties.  The  hair  which  falls  over  the  shoulders  is  twisted  into 
little  separate  curls  forming  a pretty  contrast  to  the  rest  of  the  hair, 
which  is  generally  straight.6 

Both  forms  of  coiffure  which  we  have  described  were  worn  by  all  men 
of  rank  of  the  i 8th  and  19th  dynasties  ; we  see  that  they  were  really  wigs, 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  76  b,  77  e.  Similar  ones:  ib.  98  a,  153  ; Berlin,  2289,  2296  (above  the  ears  the 
natural  hair  is  visible).  3 L.  D->  iii-  7^  h. 

3 Cp.  also  the  wall  pictures  in  the  British  Museum  shown  in  the  following  chapter. 

4 L.  D.,  iii.  93,  1 16,  121  a,  128  b,  176,  187  cl. 

5 L.  D.,  iii.  173  c ; Berlin,  7316. 

8 Many  variations  in  detail : L.  D.,  iii.  77  a ; Berlin,  2277,  2287,  2293,  2298  2303  727&  731 6> 
and  others.  Firstly,  under  Thothmes  III.,  with  still  shorter  ends  : Louvre  A,  53. 


X 


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223 


and  not  natural  hair,  by  the  change  of  coiffure  worn  by  one  and  the  same 
person.1  They  lasted  on  into  the  20th  dynasty,  at  which  time  we  also 
find  long  freely-waving  hair.2 

Under  the  Old  Empire  the  women  of  all  classes  wore  a large  coiffure 
of  straight  hair,  hanging  down  to  the  breast  in  two  tresses.3  Many  pictures 


prove  to  us  that  these  wonderful  coiffures  also  were  not  always  natural, 
for  occasionally  we  find  not  only  the  servants  without  them,  but  also  the 
grown-up  daughters  and  the  mistresses  themselves,4  while  the  head  appears 
to  be  covered  with  short  hair.5  In  a few  instances  we  find  a shorter  form 
of  coiffure  worn  occasionally  by  ladies  of  high  birth.  The  hair  does  not 
hang  longer  than  to  the  shoulders,  and  under  the 
wig  in  front  the  natural  hair  can  generally  be 
seen  covering  the  forehead  almost  to  the  eyes.6 

During  the  long  period  of  the  Middle 
Empire,  fashion,  as  regards  ladies’  hair,  remained 
wonderfully  stationary,  the  only  innovation  we 
can  remark  is,  that  the  ends  of  the  two  tresses 
were  formed  into  a pretty  fringe.7  With  the 
great  changes  which  Egyptian  dress  underwent 
towards  the  middle  of  the  18th  dynasty15  several 
new  fashions  in  ladies’  as  well  as  men’s  coiffures 
arose  contemporarily,  and  apparently  followed 
the  same  course.  These  seem  to  have  been 

due  to  the  desire  for  a freer  and  less  stiff 

arrangement  of  the  hair.  The  heavy  tresses  which  formerly  hung  down 

1 E.g.  L.  D. , iii.  103  and  105  ; ib.  76  b,  and  77  a,  e. 

- L.  D.,  iii.  2 b.  3 E.g.  L.  D.,  iii.  289,  11-12  ; L.  D.,  ii.  20,  32,  33  a,  40  b ; Perrot,  659. 

4 Ladies:  L.  IX,  ii.  25,  27,  74  c,  90.  Daughters:  L.  D.,  ii.  8 b,  19,  22  a,  25,  27.  Servants: 

L.  D.,  ii.  9,  17  c,  35,  36  c,  and  Perrot,  663. 

5 It  is  white  or  yellow,  and  is  exactly  like  the  corresponding  coiffure  of  the  men. 

6 Perrot,  141,  142,  658;  plate  viii. 

7 With  fringe  : L.  D.,  ii.  128.  Without  fringe  : ib.  130. 

8 The  old  coiffure  : L.  D. , iii.  42  ; in  curled  hair  : Berlin,  2289,  2298. 


After  Perrot,  795. 


224 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


in  front  are  now  abandoned  ; and  the  hair  is  made  to  cover  either  the 
whole  of  the  upper  part  of  the  body 1 or  it  is  all  combed  back  and 
hangs  behind.2  The  details  vary  very  much.  Sometimes  the  hair  falls 
straight  down,3  sometimes  it  is  twisted  together  in  plaits,4  at  other  times 
it  is  curled.5  Some  women  wear  it  long,  others  short  and  standing  out  ; 
some  frame  the  face  with  wonderful  plaits,6  and  others  with  short  tresses.7 * 
Nearly  all,  however,  twist  the  ends  of  several  plaits  or  curls  together,  and 
thus  make  a sort  of  fringe  to  the  heavy  mass  of  hair,  as  is  shown  in  the 
frontispiece  to  the  eighth  chapter. 

A more  graceful  head-dress  is  that  worn  by  the  girl  playing  a musical 
instrument,  in  the  London  picture  so  often  mentioned  (see  the  following 
chapter)  ; curly  hair  lightly  surrounds  without  concealing  the  shape  of 
the  head,  whilst  a few  curls  hang  down  behind  like  a pig-tail.  In  very 
similar  fashion  a young  servant  has  arranged  her  plaits  ; three  thick  ones 
form  the  pig-tail,  and  eight  smaller  ones  hang  down  over  each  cheek.s 

All  these  coiffures 
were  worn  by  the  ladies 
of  the  1 8th  dynasty; 
later,  especially  under  the 
20th  dynasty,  ladies  came 
back  to  the  old  manner 
of  dressing  their  hair, 
and  again  allowed  a 
heavy  tress  to  fall  over 
each  shoulder.  They 
turned  aside  indeed  very 
much  from  the  old  sim- 
plicity, they  crimped  their 
hair,  and  those  who  could 
afford  it  allowed  their 
wigs  to  reach  to  below 
the  waist.9  I say  wigs , 
for  most  of  these  coiffures 

dynasty  (after  L.  D.,  iii.  2).  must  have  been  artificial,  WIG  IN  THE  BERLIN  museum. 

as  we  see  by  the  fact  that 

short  coiffures  were  also  worn  on  various  occasions  by  the  same  ladies.10 
To  one  of  these  ladies  belonged  the  wig  in  the  Berlin  Museum  (shown  in 
the  illustration  above),  the  long  curls  of  which  appear  now  very  threadbare. 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  62  c.  94,  97  a,  and  frequently.  2 L.  D.,  iii.  100,  in  the  statue. 

3 E.g.  L.  D.,  iii.  94.  4 E.g.  Perrot,  p.  795. 

5 Theban  wall  pictures  in  the  Brit.  Mus.  Berlin,  2297,  7278  (the  natural  hair  is  visible  below). 

6 L.  D.,  iii.  2,  240  a.  Wilk.,  ii.  339.  Very  complicated  : Berlin,  2297,  2303. 

7 E.g.  L.  D.,  iii.  240  c. 

8 L.  D.,  iii.  42. 

9 L.  D. , iii.  240  c.  Shorter : ib.  2 and  ib.  230.  A beautiful  example  framing  the  face : 

Berlin,  2303. 

10  Under  the  M.  E. : L.  D.,  ii.  127.  Under  the  N.  E.,  in  ladies  of  rank  : L.  D.,  iii.  91. 


X 


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225 


It  is  not  composed  of  human  hair,  but  of  sheep’s  wool  ; and  these  cheap 
preparations  were  doubtless  usually  worn.1 

This  custom  of  wearing  artificial  hair  strikes  us  as  very  foolish,  though 
perhaps  not  so  much  so  as  another  custom  with  which  it  is  closely  allied. 
The  same  exaggerated  idea  of  cleanliness  which  led  the  Egyptian  to 
regard  long  hair  as  something  unclean  and  to  be  removed,  caused  him  to 
feel  a grudge  against  his  beard.  He  shaved  it  off,  in  contrast  to  his 
Mahommedan  descendants,  who,  though  they  shave  their  heads,  regard  the 
beard  as  too  sacred  to  be  touched.  In  all  epochs  of  Egyptian  history  it 
is  very  rarely  we  find  that  a gentleman  wears  even  a small  moustache,2 
shepherds  alone  and  foreign  slaves  let  their  beards  grow — evidently  to 
the  disgust  of  all  cleanly  men.3  Yet  in  Egypt  the  notion,  familiar  to 
all  oriental  nations,  that  the  beard  was  the  symbol  of  manly  dignity,  had 
survived  from  the  most  primitive  ages.  If  therefore  on  solemn  occasions 
the  great  lords  of  the  country  wished  to  command  respect,  they  had  to 


BEARDS  OF  THE  OLD,  MIDDLE,  AND  NEW  EMPIRE. 


appear  with  beards,  and  as  the  natural  beard  was  forbidden,  there  was  no 
other  course  but  to  fasten  on  an  artificial  one  underneath  the  chin.  This 
artificial  beard  is  really  the  mere  suggestion  of  a beard,  it  is  only  a short 
piece  of  hair  tightly  plaited,4  and  fastened  on  by  two  straps  behind  the 
ears.5  Every  one  would  willingly  have  done  without  this  ugly  appendage  ; 
men  of  rank  under  the  Old  Empire  put  it  on  sometimes  when  they 
appeared  in  their  great  wigs  on  gala  days,  but  they  often  left  it  off  even 

on  these  occasions,  and  scarcely  ever  did  one  of  them  allow  it  to  be 

represented  on  his  portrait  statue  ; he  felt  that  it  was  disfiguring  to  the 
beauty  of  the  face.6 

1 Even  the  wig  of  a queen  is  found  to  consist  of  a mixture  of  black  sheep’s  wool  and  human  hair. 
Maspero  Guide,  p.  332. 

3 A small  natural  moustache,  Perrot,  639  ; Louvre  A,  41,  104.  The  same  with  a trace  of  beard 
on  the  chin,  L.  D.,  ii.  83  b — all  under  the  Old  Empire. 

3 E.g.  under  the  O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  69  ; under  the  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  132  ; under  the  N.  E.  : 

L.  D.,  iii.  10  a.  4 The  shape  is  well  given  : Dtirn.  Res.,  9,  12  ; L.  D.,  ii.  22  a. 

5 These  straps  do  not  always  appear  on  the  sculptures  ; in  spite  of  their  absence,  we  must 
always  regard  these  beards  as  artificial,  as  the  same  person  is  represented  sometimes  with,  sometimes 
without,  a beard. 

6 An  exception  is  found  in  one  of  the  four  statues  represented  in  the  tomb  ; L.  D. , ii.  64. 

Q 


226 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


It  was  more  common  under  the  Middle  Empire  and  was  worn  even 
by  the  officials  of  the  nomes  and  of  the  estates,1  though  very  seldom  by 
those  of  more  ancient  times.2  Under  the  New  Empire  again  it  was 
seldom  worn,  eg.  none  of  the  courtiers  of  Chuen’eten  wear  it  ; it  was 
considered  as  a fashion  of  past  days,  and  only  appropriate  for  certain 
ceremonies.3 *  A longer  form  of  the  artificial  beard  belongs  strictly  to 
the  royal  dress,  and  though  we  find  it  occasionally  worn  by  the  nomarchs 
under  the  Middle  Empire,  it  was  as  much  an  encroachment  on  the  royal 
prerogative  as  the  wearing  of  the  Shend'otd  Finally,  the  gods  were 
supposed  to  wear  beards  of  a peculiar  shape  ; they  were  longer  by  two 


KING  OF  THE  OLD 
EMPIRE  (L.  D.,  ii.  39  f). 


NOMARCH  OF  THE 
MIDDLE  EMPIRE 

(L.  D.,  ii.  130). 


EMPIRE.  THE  GOD  OSIRIS. 


finger-breadths  than  those  worn  by  men,  they  were  also  plaited  like  pig- 
tails and  bent  up  at  the  end.5 

Egyptian  costume,  as  far  as  we  have  already  considered  it,  shows  a 
comparatively  rich  development;  on  the  other  hand  the  history  of  the  foot 
gear  is  very  simple.  In  no  point  of  apparel,  in  fact,  did  the  nation  remain 
so  faithful  to  old  traditions.  At  a time  when  people  paid  great  attention 
to  the  various  gradations  of  style  in  clothes  and  wigs,  and  when  they  were 
also  strenuously  striving  after  greater  cleanliness,  men  and  women,  young 
and  old  almost  always  went  barefoot,  even  when  wearing  the  richest 
costumes.  Under  the  Old  and  the  Middle  Empire  women  seem  never  to 
have  worn  sandals,  while  great  men  probably  only  used  them  when  they 
needed  them  out  of  doors,6  and  even  then  they  generally  gave  them  to  be 

1 L.  D. , ii.  128,  1 3 1,  on  a solemn  occasion.  2 E.g.  L.  D.,  ii.  9. 

3 E.g.  L.  D.,  iii.  9 e,  29  a,  77  a,  1 16,  173  c ; Berlin,  2277,  2287,  7316,  etc.,  when  in  ceremonial 

dress.  4 L.  D.,  ii.  129,  130. 

5 Once  also  under  the  New  Empire  upon  a man  who  is  bringing  offerings  for  the  deceased  ances- 

tors, and  therefore  is  officiating  as  Horus  (L.  D.,  iii.  9 f)  ; the  deceased  often  wear  it  when  they  are 
in  the  form  of  Osiris,  especially  in  the  representations  on  the  mummy  cases. 

6 O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  13,  54,  79,  80  ; Perrot,  91.  Single  ones  ; L.  D.,  ii.  98  b.  M.  E.  : L.  D., 
ii.  126,  131. 


X 


DRESS 


227 


carried  by  the  sandal-bearer  who  followed  them.1  Sandals  were  more 
frequently  used  under  the  New  Empire  ; still  they  were  not  quite  natur- 
alised, and  custom  forbade  that  they  should  be  worn  in  the  presence  of  a 
superior.2 3  Consequently  san- 
dals were  all  essentially  of 
the  same  form.  Those  here 
represented  have  soles  of 
leather,  of  papyrus  reed  or 
palm  bast,  the  two  straps 
are  of  the  same  material  ; 
one  strap  passes  over  the 
instep,  the  other  between  the 
toes.:i  Sometimes  a third 
strap  is  put  behind  round  the 
heel 4 in  order  to  hold  the 
sandal  on  better;  sometimes 
the  front  of  the  sandal  is 
turned  over  as  a protection  to 
the  toes.5 6  The  sandal  with 
sides  belongs  perhaps  to  a 
later  period,  it  approaches 
very  nearly  to  a shoe. 

We  have  laid  great  stress, 
as  the  reader  will  see  by  the 
various  illustrations  to  this 
chapter,  on  the  accessories  of 
dress,  and  on  ornament.  At 
all  periods  both  men  and 
women  wore  coloured  em- 

, „ 1,2,  UPPER  AND  UNDER  SIDE  OF  A SANDAL  (Alnwick 

broidered  necklets,  as  well  Castle).  3,  Ditto.  4,  Berlin  (after  Wilk.,  ii.  336,  337). 

as  bracelets  for  the  wrist  and 

the  upper  arm  ; 7 8 anklets  were  also  worn  as  ornaments  by  the  ladies.s 

1 Sandal-bearers — O.  E.  : specified  as  of  the  king,  A.  Z.,  1882,  20.  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  1 3 1 . 
N.  E.  : servant  carrying  those  other  mistress,  Wilk.,  i.  392. 

2 Princes  in  the  king’s  presence  without  sandals  whilst  he  wears  them  himself,  e.g.  L.  D.,  iii. 
76  b,  77  c. 

3 Leather  sandals  in  pictures  such  as,  L.  D. , ii.  49  b,  or  Ros.  Mon.  civ.,  64,  1. 

4 E.g.  L.  D.,  ii.  1 3 1 . L.  D.,  iii.  77  e,  98  b. 

3 E.g.  L.  D.,  iii.  1,  1 15,  224. 

6 Necklets  for  men — O.  E.  : narrow,  blue,  L.  D.,  ii.  18,  19,  20,  21,  22,  32,  36  c,  46,  etc.  ; blue 
and  green  on  white,  Louvre  A,  102,  104,  105.  M.  E. : L.  D.,  ii.  130,  134  b,  d,  etc.  (narrow).  N.  E.  : 
broad,  with  leaf-shaped  ornaments  reaching  to  the  breast,  passim.  Necklets  for  women — e.g.  O.  E. 
and  M.  E.  (mostly  blue,  narrow,  and  often  a second  narrow  row  round  the  neck)  : L.  D.,  ii.  19, 
20,  21,  32,  33,  etc.  ; Perrot,  plate  ix.  ; Louvre  A,  102.  N.  E.  : broader  than  those  for  men,  other- 
wise alike,  passim.  Simple  strings  of  beads  as  necklets  are  rare,  and  indeed  only  customary  under 
the  New  Empire  ; on  a man,  Berlin,  2297  ; on  a woman,  Perrot,  795. 

7 Frequent  at  all  periods,  under  the  O.  E.,  blue  (L.  D.,  ii.  19,  21)  ; under  the  M.  E.,  green 
with  blue  necklets  (Berlin,  1188). 

8 Under  the  O.  E.  (blue)  : L.D.,  ii.  20,  27,  46. 


228 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Earrings  were  probably  first  introduced  into  Egypt  by  foreigners,  in 
the  time  of  the  New  Empire.  Under  the  18th  dynasty  they  consisted 

of  broad  ornamented  disks  ; under  the  20th  of 
large  rings.1  Rings  for  the  fingers,  of  which 
many  are  preserved,  were  generally  seal  rings  ; 
they  bear  for  the  most  part  the  name  of  the 
reigning  king. 

The  members  of  the  royal  family  wore  a 
special  covering  for  the  head.  The  Pharaoh 
wore  his  crowns,  his  helmet,  or  his  folded  ker- 
chief (see  p.  60  f.).  His  sons  wore  (at  any  rate 
under  the  New  Empire)  a kerchief  with  a 
broad  band,  which  took  the  place  of  the  youth- 
ful sidelock,  the  ancient  princely  badge ; they 
also  wore  a diadem  round  the  head.  The  queen  wore  the  so-called 
vulture  head-dress,  in  which  that  sacred  bird,  the  protector  of  the  king 


After  L.  D.,  iii.  77  e.  An  example 
also  of  a peculiar  covering  for 
the  leg,  this  being  the  only 
known  representation  of  the 
same. 


PAPYRUS  SANDALS  AT  BERLIN  (After  Wilk. , SANDALS  OF  GREEN  LEATHER  IN  THE  SALT 

ii.  336).  collection  (after  Wilk.,  ii.  336). 


in  battle,  appeared  to  spread  his  wings  over  the  head  of  the  queen. 
Ordinary  people  contented  themselves,  when  in  gala  costume,  with 
wearing  a wreath  or  a coloured  ribbon 
round  the  hair.  Women  as  a rule 
also  wore  the  same  ; under  the  Old 
Empire  only  we  occasionally  find  a 
man  wearing  a diadem.2 

Men  possessed  one  badge  of 
honour  however  above  women  — a 
very  important  one,  according  to 
Egyptian  ideas.  We  refer  to  the  various  sticks  which  men  of  rank  of  all 
epochs  carry  in  such  a dignified  manner.  To  our  profane  eyes  the  differ- 


SHOE  OF  GREEN  LEATHER  IN  THE  SALT 

collection  (after  Wilk,  ii.  336). 


1 Disk-shaped  : Wall  pictures  in  London  ; Berlin,  7278  ; Perrot,  795.  Rings  : L.  D.,  iii.  2, 
217  e (both  20th  dynasty). 

2 Man  with  diadem  : L.  D.,  ii.  73,  97  b ; Diini.  Res.,  14  ; Berlin,  1118. 


X 


DRESS 


229 


ences  between  the  various  sticks  appear  to  be  trifling  and  one  stick  seems 
as  good  as  another  ; but  to  the  Egyptian  each  had  its  own  significance 
and  its  particular  name.  The  stick  in  common  use  was  of  man’s  height, 
as  a rule  smooth  or  with  a knob  at  the  top.1  It  was 
used  as  a walking  stick  and  as  a support  when  stand- 
ing- still.  Next  there  was  the  staff  of  this  form 

which  was  carried  as  a symbol  of  command,  as  is 
signified  by  its  name,  cherp  — first.  A similar  staff, 
bearing  the  name  of  sechem  = mighty,  evidently  served 

the  same  object.  A fourth  j with  the  head  of  a silver  earring 

(after  Wilk.,  ii.  349). 

fabulous  animal  at  the  top,  was  originally  the  sceptre 

of  the  gods,  but  was  used  later  even  by  private  individuals  as  a walking 


QUEEN  WITH  VULTURE  HEAD-DRESS 


prince  with  diadem  (after  L.  D. , iii.  217  a).  (after  L.  D.,  iii.  217  e). 

stick.2 3  We  have  perhaps  given  examples  enough.  Many  forms  of  sticks 
were  also  imported  from  foreign  parts,  eg.  the  shebet  staff  of  the  Canaan- 
ites  called  the  shabd? 

The  following  distinction  has  been  drawn  between  the  apparel  of 
primitive  and  civilised  nations,  viz.  that  the  former  love  the  effect  of 
splendid  clothes,  the  latter  on  the  other  hand  beautify  the  body  itself ; 
according  to  this  dictum  we  shall  find  that  the  Egyptians  of  the  Old 
Empire  were  not  far  removed  from  the  primitive  standpoint.  The  painting 
and  rouging  of  the  face,  the  oiling  of  the  limbs  and  of  the  hair,  was  as 
important  to  them  as  their  clothes  ; and  even  the  deceased  were  not 
happy  without  seven  sorts  of  salve  and  two  sorts  of  rouge.4  In  their 

1 E.g.  quite  smooth  : L.  D.,  ii.  20  f,  21,  78  a.  With  knob  : ib.  13,  104  c.  With  hook  : Wilk., 

iii.  lxvii.  2 Wall  picture  in  the  Brit.  Mus.  (gentleman  in  the  country). 

3 E.g.  Mallet,  1,7.  4 Thus  always  in  the  lists  of  offerings  of  the  Old  Empire. 


230 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


sculpture  also,  in  which  slight  deviations  from  nature  were  allowed,  the 
Egyptians  liked  to  represent  the  marks  of  paint  adorning  the  eyes. 

Two  colours  were  chiefly  used — green,  with  which  under  the  Old 
Empire  they  put  a line  under  the  eyes  ; and  black,  with  which  they  painted 


pots  FOR  paint  FOR  the  eyes  : i,  In  the  shape  of  a pillar,  next  to  it  the  little  stick  for  putting  it  on. 
(Brit.  Mus. ) 2,  Held  by  a monkey,  cover  and  pin  are  missing  (Alnwick  Castle).  3,  For  four 
different  kinds  (ditto).  (After  Wilk. , ii.  348. ) 


the  eyebrows  and  eyelids,  in  order  to  make  the  eyes  appear  larger  and 
more  brilliant.  As  a cosmetic  stibium  was  chiefly  used.  It  was  imported 

from  the  East  ; the  best  kind, 
called  mesd'emt , was  evidently 
very  costly.  This  custom  still 
exists  in  Egypt,  and  in  this 
land  of  ophthalmia  the  same 
healing  properties  are  ascribed 
to  kohl  as  were  formerly  to 
mesd'emt.  It  was  customary 
also  to  paint  other  parts  of 
the  body  as  well,  and  from  the 
picture  of  the  singer  to  Amon 
(p.  2 1 6),  we  surmise  that  that 
lady  has  had  her  arm  tatooed.1 
The  caricature  here  depicted 
evidently  represents  a lady  who 
is  rouging  her  lips,2  and  sur- 
veying herself  complacently  at 
the  same  time  in  the  metal  mirror  which  she  holds  with  the  rouge  pot  in 
her  left  hand. 

We  can  scarcely  realise  the  importance  of  oil  in  ancient  Egypt.  Oil 
was  a necessary  of  daily  life,  and  the  hungry  unpaid  workmen  complain 
in  the  same  breath  that  no  food  is  given  them  to  eat,  and  that  no  oil  is 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  2.  2 Tur. , 145. 


LADY  ROUGING  HERSELF  : IN  HER  LEFT  HAND 

HOLDS  THE  MIRROR  AND  THE  ROUGE  POT  (from 
obscene  papyrus,  Tur.,  145). 


X 


DRESS 


231 


METAL  MIRRORS  (after  Wilk.,  ii.  351). 


given  to  them.1  These  workmen  had  probably  to  be  contented  with 
native  fat,  but  the  soldiers  demanded  imported  oil — oil  from  the  harbour? 
People  of  rank  always  obtained  their  oils  and  perfumes  from  foreign 
countries,3  in  preference  from 
the  south  coasts  of  the  Red 
Sea,  which  supplied  the  pre- 
cious Qemi,  the  ointment  so 
often  mentioned  and  so  often 
represented,  which  was  used 
under  the  New  Empire  for 
oiling  the  head.4  The  oil  was 
not  used  as  we  should  natur- 
ally imagine.  A ball  about 
the  size  of  a fist  was  placed 
in  the  bowl  of  oil  ; the  con- 
sistency of  the  ball  is  un- 
known, but  at  any  rate  it 
absorbed  the  oil.  The  chief 
anointer , who  was  always  to 
be  found  in  a rich  household,5 
then  placed  the  ball  on  the 

head  of  his  master,  where  it  remained  during  the  whole  time  of  the  feast, 
so  that  the  oil  trickled  down  gradually  into  the  hair. 

Oil  in  Egypt  was  also  symbolic  ; it  was  an  emblem  of  joy.  On  festival 

days,  when  the  king’s  proces- 
sion passed,  all  the  people 
poured  “sweet  oil  on  their 
heads,  on  their  new  coiffures.”  6 
At  all  the  feasts  cakes  of 
ointment  were  quite  as  neces- 
sary as  wreaths,  and  if  the  king 
wished  specially  to  honour  one 
of  his  courtiers  he  ordered  his 
servants  to  anoint  him  with 
Qemi , and  to  put  beautiful 
apparel  and  ornaments  upon 
him.7  It  was  considered  a 
suitable  amusement  at  a feast 
for  persons  to  perform  their 
toilettes  together,  and  while 
or  put  on  new  necklets  and 


A LADY  WITH  HER  CAKE  OF 
OINTMENT. 


BOWL  FOR  OINTMENT. 
Others  in  the  picture 
p.  120. 


anoint  themselves, 


eating  they  would 
exchange  flowers. 

1 Tur. , 43,  3.  - An.,  4,  15,  4.  3 See  the  details  in  chap.  xix. 

4 Scenes  of  anointing:  L.  D. , iii.  76  b,  230;  Wilk.,  i.  426.  Ointment  on  the  heads  in  all 
pictures  of  funerary  feasts,  on  stelae,  etc. 

5 An.,  4,  3,  8.  6 An.,  3,  3,  2. 

7 L.  D.,  iii.  76  b;  Diim.  Hist.  Inscrip.,  ii.  40. 


232 


LIFE  IN  A ANIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


To  give  an  agreeable  odour  to  the  body  the  Egyptians  used  many 
kinds  of  perfume,  above  all  one  well  known  to  the  Greeks,  the  Kyphi, 
consisting  of  myrrh,  broom,  frankincense,  buckshorn,  and  several  other 
ingredients,  some  of  which  were  obtained  from  foreign  plants.  These 
substances  were  pounded  and  then  mixed  together,  and  a certain  quantity 
was  put  on  the  fire,  and  then  “ the  smell  in  the  house  and  of  the  clothes 
was  pleasant.”  Honey  also  was  added  and  pills  concocted,  which  when 
chewed  “ by  women  made  the  breath  of  their  mouths  sweet.”  1 The  latter 
receipt  brings  us  to  the  cosmetics,  which  occupy  so  large  a space  in  the 
medical  literature  of  Egypt.  It  is  curious  that,  amongst  this  wig-wearing 
people,  the  doctor  was  especially  worried  about  hair  ; men  as  well  as 
women  2 required  of  him  that  when  their  hair  came  out  he  should  make 
it  grow  again,  as  well  as  restore  the  black  colour  of  youth  to  their  white 
locks.  We  know  not  whether  these  Egyptian  physicians  understood  this 
art  better  than  their  colleagues  of  modern  times  ; at  any  rate  they  gave 
numberless  prescriptions.  For  instance,  as  a remedy  against  the  hair 
turning  white  the  head  was  to  be  “ anointed  with  the  blood  of  a black 
calf  that  had  been  boiled  with  oil.”  As  a preservative  against  the  same 
misfortune  the  “ blood  of  the  horn  of  a black  bull,”  also  boiled  with  oil, 
was  to  be  used  as  an  ointment.  According  to  other  physicians  “ the 
blood  of  a black  bull  that  had  been  boiled  with  oil  ” was  a real  active 
expedient  against  white  hair.  In  these  prescriptions  the  black  colour  of 
the  bull’s  hair  was  evidently  supposed  to  pass  into  the  hair  of  the  human 
being.  We  read  also  of  the  “ fat  of  a black  snake  ” being  prescribed  for 
the  same  object.3  When  the  hair  fell  out,  it  could  be  renewed  by  six 
kinds  of  fat  worked  up  together  into  a pomade — the  fat  of  the  lion,  of  the 
hippopotamus,  of  the  crocodile,  of  the  cat,  of  the  snake,  and  of  the  ibex. 
It  was  also  considered  as  really  strengthening  to  the  hair  to  anoint  it  with 
the  “ tooth  of  a donkey  crushed  in  honey.”  On  the  other  hand  queen 
Shesh,  the  mother  of  the  ancient  King  Tet’e,  found  it  advisable  to  take 
the  hoof  of  a donkey  instead  of  the  tooth,  and  to  boil  it  in  oil  together 
with  dog’s  foot  and  date  kernels,  thus  making  a pomade.  Those  with 
whom  this  did  not  take  effect  might  use  a mixture  of  the  excreta  of 
gazelles,  sawdust,  the  fat  of  the  hippopotamus,  and  oil  ; 4 or  they  might 
have  recourse  to  the  plant  Degem , especially  if  they  belonged  to  the 
community  which  believed  in  this  plant  as  a universal  remedy.5 

The  physician  however  had  not  only  to  comply  with  the  wishes  of  the 
lady  who  desired  to  possess  beautiful  hair  herself,  but  unfortunately  he  had 
also  to  minister  to  the  satisfaction  of  her  jealousy  against  her  rival  with 
the  beautiful  locks.  “ To  cause  the  hair  of  the  hated  one  to  fall  out,”  take 
the  worm  1 an1  art  or  the  flower  sepet,  boil  the  worm  or  the  flower  in  oil, 
and  put  it  on  the  head  of  the  rival.  A tortoise-shell  boiled,  pounded,  and 

1 Eb.  98,  12  ; cp.  also  A.  Z.,  1874,  106  ff. 

2 In  the  prescriptions,  Eb.,  65  ff,  both  are  often  expressly  mentioned. 

3 The  prescriptions  are  quoted,  Eb.,  65,  8,  16,  19  ; 66,  1. 

4 Quoted,  Eb.,  66,  9,  20,  15,  21.  5 Eb.,  47,  19. 


X 


DRESS 


233 


mixed  in  the  fat  of  a hippopotamus  was  an  antidote  against  this  cruel 
artifice,  but  it  was  necessary  to  anoint  oneself  with  the  latter  “very  very 
often  ” that  it  might  be  efficient.1 

With  this  little  glimpse  of  the  life  of  the  harem  we  will  take  our  leave 
of  the  subject  of  Egyptian  dress,  which  has  kept  us  longer  than  may  seem 
right  to  many  a reader. 

1 Eb.,  67,  3 ff.  Perhaps  it  would  be  more  exact  to  say  “of  the  hated  one.” 


CARICATURE  OF  A BADLY  SHAVEN,  BALD-HEADED  MAN. 
(From  the  Turin  obscene  papyrus.) 


WINE  PARTY  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE. 

The  host  and  hostess  are  the  scribe  of  the  King  Haremheb,  and  his  wife  Ese  ; the  guests  are  the 
chiefs  of  the  mercenaries  of  his  majesty  (after  Wilk. , i.  Pi.  xi.  ;=  Perrot,  796). 


CHAPTER  XI 

RECREATION 

As  a nation  advances  towards  the  higher  stages  of  civilisation,  there  are 
many  pursuits  which,  though  no  longer  necessary  as  in  past  times  for  the 
maintenance  of  life,  do  not  nevertheless  fall  into  oblivion.  Though 
exercised  more  rarely,  they  appear  to  give  purer  pleasure  than  before,  and 
with  the  absence  of  constraint  the  hard  work  of  former  ages  becomes  a 
delight  and  a sport.  When  we  first  obtain  a glimpse  of  the  Egyptians, 
centuries  had  probably  elapsed  since  they  had  been  obliged  to  spear  fish 
or  to  kill  birds  with  a throw-stick  in  order  to  obtain  food.  Yet  in  later 
times  these  two  arts  were  pursued  with  far  greater  pleasure  than  net-fishing 
or  bird-snaring.  Similar  instances  are  to  be  found  in  the  history  of  all 
people  and  all  ages. 

It  stands  to  reason  however  that  these  old  crafts  could  only  be 
exercised  later  by  those  who  cared  little  what  they  gained  by  them.  In 
the  Egypt  of  historical  times  nets  and  snares  were  used  when  fish 
and  geese  were  really  needed,  and  the  spear  and  the  throw-stick  were 
employed  only  by  wealthy  men  or  men  of  rank  for  amusement  rather 
than  for  use.  This  kind  of  recreation  seems  to  have  been  confined  to  the 
aristocracy,  and  it  was  even  thought  to  be  the  particular  privilege  of  these 
great  men, — the  master  alone  might  be  a sportsman,  the  servant’s  duty 
was  to  occupy  himself  in  more  useful  ways.  This  view  of  the  matter, 
which  is  familiar  to  us  from  the  feudal  customs  of  the  Middle  Ages,  seems 
to  have  been  general  in  Egypt,  for  as  a rule  the  great  men,  when  spearing 
fish  or  killing  birds  with  the  throw-stick,  are  always  represented  in  their 
most  honourable  costume,  in  the  royal  skirt,1  and  even  with  the  royal 
beard.2  This  sport  in  the  marshes  was  not  in  their  opinion  an  indifferent 
matter,  it  was  a precious  privilege,  a princely  right. 

1 O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  60  ; Berlin,  1 1 18,  1 1 19.  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  130.  N.  E.  : L.  D.,  iii.  9 e ; Wilk., 

ii.  107.  2 L.  D.,  ii.  130. 


CHAP.  XI 


RECREATION 


235 


At  the  beginning  of  this  book  I showed  that,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  historical  period  in  Egypt,  the  cultivation  of  the  land  was  already 
far  advanced.  Much  of  the  country  formerly  covered  by  marshes  and 
tropical  forests  was  already  arable  land.  At  the  same  time  old  river  beds 
remained  ; stretches  of  marsh  and  half-stagnant  water,  overgrown  as  of  old 
with  papyrus  reeds,  offered  shelter  to  the  hippopotamus,  the  crocodile,  and 
to  numberless  water  birds.  This  was  the  happy  hunting-ground  of  the 
great  lords  of  ancient  Egypt,  the  oft-mentioned  “ backwaters,”  the  “ bird 
tanks  of  pleasure.”  They  played  the  same  part  in  Egyptian  life  as  the 
forest  in  German  folk  lore  ; the  greatest  delight  perhaps  that  the  Egyptian 


After  L.  D. , ii.  130. 


knew  was  to  row  in  a light  boat  between  the  beautiful  waving  tufts  of  the 
papyrus  reeds,  to  pick  the  lotus  flowers,  to  start  the  wild  birds  and 
then  knock  them  over  with  the  throw-stick,  to  spear  the  great  fish  of  the 
Nile  and  even  the  hippopotamus,  with  the  harpoon.  Pictures  of  all  periods 
exist  representing  these  expeditions,  and  we  have  but  to  glance  at  them  in 
order  to  realise  how  much  the  Egyptians  loved  these  wild  districts,  and 
how  much  poetry  they  found  in  them. 

We  see  how  the  great  papyrus  shrubs  lift  up  their  beautiful  heads 
high  above  the  height  of  man,  while  “ their  roots  are  bathed  ” as  a botanist 
says,  “ in  the  lukewarm  water,  and  their  feathery  tufts  wave  on  their  slender 
stalks.”  With  the  help  of  other  reeds  and  water  plants  they  form  an 
impenetrable  thicket — a floating  forest.  Above,  there  swarm,  as  now  in 


236 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


the  Delta,  a cloud  of  many  thousand  marsh-birds.  We  see  in  our  picture 
that  it  is  the  close  of  the  breeding  season  ; a few  birds  are  still  sitting  on 
their  nests,  which  are  built  on  the  papyrus  reeds  and  swayed  by  the  wind, 
while  most  of  the  others  are  flying  about  seeking  food  for  their  young. 
One  bird  is  chasing  the  great  butterflies  which  are  fluttering  round  the 
tops  of  the  papyrus  reeds  ; another  with  a long  pointed  beak  darts  down 
upon  a flower  in  which  he  has  discovered  a cockchafer.  In  the  meantime 
danger  threatens  the  young  ones  ; small  animals  of  prey,  such  as  the  weasel 
and  the  ichneumon,  have  penetrated  into  the  thicket,  and  are  dexterously 
climbing  up  the  stems  of  the  reeds.  The  startled  parents  hasten  back, 
and  seek  to  scare  away  the  thieves  with  their  cries  and  the  flapping  of 
their  wings. 

Meanwhile  in  a light  boat  formed  of  papyrus  reeds  bound  together  the 
Egyptian  sportsman  makes  his  way  over  the  expanse  of  water  in  this 
marsh  ; 1 he  is  often  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  children,  who  gather 
the  lotus  flowers  and  hold  the  birds  he  has  killed.  Noiselessly  the  bark 
glides  along  by  the  thicket,  so  close  to  it  that  the  children  can  put  their 
hands  into  it  in  their  play.  The  sportsman  stands  upright  in  the  boat 
and  swings  his  throw-stick  in  his  right  hand  ; with  a powerful  throw  it 
whizzes  through  the  air,  and  one  of  the  birds  falls  into  the  water,  hit  on 
its  neck.  This  throw-stick  is  a simple  but  powerful  weapon — a small  thin 
piece  of  hard  wood,  bent  in  a peculiar  way  ; when  thrown  it  hits  its  mark 
with  great  strength,  then  returns  in  a graceful  curve  and  falls  at  the  feet 
of  the  marksman.  The  natives  of  Australia  still  use  the  same  weapon  in 
a somewhat  different  form  under  the  name  of  a boomerang.2 3  It  is  most 
remarkable  that  in  many  of  the  pictures  of  the  New  Empire  a tame  cat 
accompanies  the  sportsman  and  brings  him  the  fallen  birds  out  of  the 
thicket  into  the  boat.:! 

The  bag  after  such  a hunting  expedition  was  necessarily  very  light  ; 
we  have  already  said  this  was  purely  sport.  The  great  numbers  of  water- 
birds  required  for  Egyptian  housekeeping  were  caught  in  a less  delightful 
but  much  more  effective  manner  ; a large  bird-net  was  used,  which  we 
often  see  represented  in  the  tombs.  The  net  was  spread  on  a small 
expanse  of  water  surrounded  by  a low  growth  of  reeds.  Judging  from 
the  representations,  it  was  often  I o to  12  feet  long  and  about  five  feet 
wide.  It  was  made  of  netted  string  and  had  eight  corners.4  When 

1 Bird-hunting  with  the  throw-stick — O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  12,  60,  106  (large  boat  with  many  oars)  ; 
Berlin,  11 18  (without  any  companions).  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  130  (coloured).  N.  E.  : W.,  ii.  104  (we 
see  the  throw-sticks  fly  through  the  air),  107,  108  ; L.  D.,  iii.  9 e,  113  c. 

2 Many  exist  in  the  Museums,  e.g.  Berlin,  4734  (L.  IX,  ii.  130,  yellow). 

3 Cats  at  the  bird  hunt  : W.,  ii.  107,  108.  The  bird  sitting  in  the  bow  of  the  boat,  W.,  ii.  104, 
107,  10S,  may  serve  as  a decoy  bird.  This  does  not  appear  under  the  Old  Empire. 

4 The  construction  of  the  net  is  not  easy  to  understand.  Wilk.,  ii.  1 10,  shows  the  meshes.  The 
net  is  open,  L.  D.,  ii.  130,  close  by  we  see  it  amongst  the  hieroglyphics  in  its  closed  form.  Bird- 
catching  with  a net — O.  E. : Mar.  mon.  div.,  17.  Perrot,  35  (important);  L.  D.,  ii.  9,  12  a ; 42,  43, 
46.  Diim.  Res.,8;  L.  D.,  ii.  105,  and  the  same  in  the  tomb  of  T’y.  M.  E. : L.  D. , ii.  130  (coloured) 
the  fowler  sits  hidden  behind  a mat).  N.  E.  : Wilk.,  i.  290  ; ii.  102. 


XI 


RECREA  TION 


2 37 


spread,  the  sides  were  drawn  well  back  and  hidden  under  water  plants  ; 
in  order  to  draw  it  up,  a rope  which  ran  along  the  net  and  was  fastened 
behind  to  a clod  of  earth,  had  to  be  pulled  hard. 

How  they  enticed  the  birds  into  the  net,  whether  by  bait  or  by  a 
decoy  bird,  I can  scarcely  tell,  for  the  favourite  time  for  representa- 


BIRD-CATCHING  UNDER  THE  OLD  EMPIRE  (after  L.  D. , ii.  46). 


tion  on  our  monuments  is  always  the  moment  when  the  net  is  being 
drawn  together.  Three  or  four  fellows  who  have  thrown  off  every  useless 
bit  of  clothing,  hold  the  long  rope,  and  wait  in  breathless  attention  for 
the  command  to  draw  the  net  together.  In  the  meantime  the  master  has 


BIRD-TRAPS,  SOME  open,  some  closed.  From  a tomb  of  the  Middle  Empire  at  Beni  Hasan 

(after  Wilk. , ii.  103). 


slipped  through  the  bushes  close  to  the  net,  and  has  seen  and  heard  that 
the  birds  are  caught  in  the  snare.  He  dares  not  call  out  to  his  men  for 
fear  of  scaring  the  birds,  so  he  gives  them  the  signal  by  waving  a strip  of 
linen  over  his  head.  The  workmen  then  pull  the  rope  with  might  and 
main,  they  pull  till  they  literally  lie  on  the  ground.  Their  efforts  are 
rewarded,  for  the  net  is  full  of  birds,  thirty  or  forty  great  water-birds 


238 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


being  caught  in  it  ; most  as  we  see  are  geese,  but  an  unfortunate  pelican 
has  also  wandered  in.  The  latter  has  little  chance  of  mercy  from  the 
bird-catcher,  who  now  gets  into  the  net  and  seizes  the  birds  one  by  one 
by  their  wings,  and  hands  them  to  his  men  ; of  these  the  first  appears  to 
be  breaking  the  wings,  while  the  others  place  them  in  large  four-cornered 
cages,  first  sorting  them,  for  the  Egyptians  loved  order  ; “ those  in  the 
box  ? ” asks  one  of  another  meanwhile.1 

The  cages  are  then  carried  home  on  hand-barrows,  where  the  fattest 
geese  are  proudly  exhibited  to  the  master  ; one  of  the  species  ser,  though 
unusually  fat,  is  far  surpassed  by  another  of  the  species  terp.  From  the 
marshes  on  this  occasion  they  also  bring  lotus  flowers  for  wreaths  and  for 
the  decoration  of  the  house — a present  is  also  brought  in  from  the  net 


CATCH  OF  FISH  UNDER  THE  OLD  EMPIRE  (after  L.  D. , ii.  9). 


for  the  young  master  ; a gay  hoopoe,  which  he  almost  squeezes  to  death 
with  the  cruel  love  of  a child.2 

As  we  have  already  remarked,  this  manner  of  bird-catching  was  not 
mere  sport  in  the  early  ages  of  the  5th  and  6th  dynasties  ; at  that  time 
there  was  a special  official  on  many  estates,  the  “chief  bird-catcher,” 3 and 
the  people  also  thus  obtained  their  favourite  national  dish,  viz.  roast  goose. 
They  evidently  pursued  this  sport  regularly,  and  indeed  a picture  of  the 
time  of  the  New  Empire  shows  us  how  they  salted  down  the  remaining 
birds  in  large  jars.4 

When  however,  instead  of  prosaic  geese,  they  wanted  to  catch  the 
pretty  birds  of  passage,  the  “ birds  of  Arabia  who  flutter  over  Egypt 
smelling  of  myrrh,” 5 they  used  traps  baited  with  worms.6  It  was  a 
favourite  pastime  even  for  ladies  7 to  sit  in  the  fields  all  day  long,  waiting 
for  the  moment  when  at  last  they  should  hear  the  “ wailing  cry  of  the 
beautiful  bird  smelling  of  myrrh.”  8 

Fishing  was  also  very  popular  in  ancient  Egypt  ; the  peaceful  well- 
stocked  waters  of  the  Nile  invited  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  to  this 

1 Diim.  Res.,  8.  2 Dum.  Res.,  8,  9,  L.D.,  ii.  105. 

a L.  D.,  ii.  105,  also  Br.  Gr.  W.,  68  a.  4 Wilk.,  i.  290. 

5 Harr.,  500,  12,  3.  6 lb.  12,  4,  7. 

7 Cp.  the  song,  Harr.,  500,  12,  2 ff.  8 lb.  12,  6. 


XI 


RECREATION 


239 


easy  sport.  The  most  primitive  manner  of  fishing,  viz.  with  the  spear,1 
was  only  pursued  later  as  a sport  by  the  wealthy.  For  this  purpose  the 
Egyptians  used  a thin  spear  nearly  three  yards  long,  in  front  of  which 
two  long  barbed  points  were  fastened.  The  most  skilful  speared  two 
fish  at  once,  one  with  each  point.  Angling  was  also  considered  a 

delightful  recreation  for  gentlemen  ; we  see  them  seated  on  chairs  and 
rugs  fishing  in  the  artificial  lakes  in  their  gardens.2  The  common  fisher- 
men also  did  not  despise  line  fishing.3  As  a rule  however  the  latter 
fished  in  a more  effective  manner,  with  the  bow-net4  or  with  the 

drag-net.5  We  see  how  the  latter  is  set  upright  in  the  water,  quite  in 
the  modern  style,  with  corks  fastened  on  the  upper  edge  and  weights  on 

the  lower.  Seven  or  eight  fishermen  then  drag  it  through  the  water  to 

the  land.  The  catch  is  a good  one,  about  thirty  great  fish  are  caught 
at  one  haul,  and  lie  struggling  on  the  bank.  Many  are  so  heavy  that  a 
man  can  only  carry  one  at  a time ; a string  is  put  through  the  gills  of  the 
others,  and  they  are  carried  in  a row  on  a stick  to  the  fish  dealers. 

These  dealers  are  seated  on  low  stones  before  a sort  of  table,  cleaning 
out  the  inside  of  the  fish  and  cutting  them  open  so  as  to  dry  them  better. 
The  fish  were  then  hung  upon  strings  in  the  sun  to  dry  thoroughly  ; when 
the  fishermen  were  far  from  home,  they  began  this  work  on  board  their  boats.6 
These  dried  fish  were  a great  feature  in  Egyptian  housekeeping ; no  larder 
was  without  them,7  and  they  formed  the  chief  food  of  the  lower  orders.s 
They  were  the  cheapest  food  of  the  land  ; much  cheaper  than  corn,  of 
which  the  country  was  also  very  productive.  The  heartfelt  wish  of  the 
poorer  folk  was  that  the  price  of  corn  might  be  as  low  as  that  of  fish.9 
Fish  was  also  a favourite  dish  with  the  upper  classes  ; and  the  epicure 
knew  each  variety,  and  in  which  water  the  most  dainty  were  to  be  caught.10 
It  was  therefore  a most  foolish  invention  of  later  Egyptian  theology  to 
declare  that  fish  were  unclean  to  the  orthodox  and  so  much  to  be  avoided, 
that  a true  believer  might  have  no  fellowship  with  those  who  ate  fish.11 

Besides  the  birds  and  fish,  there  dwelt  in  the  marshes  two  giants  of 
the  animal  world,  the  hunting  of  which  was  attended  with  considerable 
danger,  viz.  the  hippopotamus  and  the  crocodile.  Both  were  regarded 
with  timid  respect,  which  was  carried  in  some  districts  to  religious  reverence. 
The  hippopotamus  especially,  with  his  senseless  furious  roar,  and  his 
“ extremely  pugnacious,  restless  nature  ” 12  was  accounted  the  embodiment 

1 O.  E.  : Berlin,  1119.  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  130,  Ros.  M.  C.,  25.  N.  E.  : Wilk.,  ii.  107  (the  end 
of  the  spear  is  feathered  like  an  arrow). 

2 Wilk.,  ii.  115  (N.  E.). 

3 O.  E.  : Perrot,  p.  i4  = Badeker,  p.  413.  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  127  = Wilk.,  ii.  116,  with  and 
without  a rod.  Fish  hooks  perhaps,  L.D.,  ii.  96. 

4 Bow-nets,  Badeker  only,  p.  41 1 (O.  E.). 

5 Large  net — O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  9,  42  a ; 43  a,  46,  106  ; Ros.  M.  C.,  24.  Cp.  also  Br.  Gr.  W., 

69-71.  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  130.  N.  E.  : Wilk.,  ii.  102.  Transport  of  fish — L.  D.,  ii.  9,  12. 

Killing  the  fish — L.  D.,  ii.  9,  12,  46  ; Dum.  Res.,  8 ; Ros.  M.  C.,  25. 

6 Wilk.,  ii.  102.  7 Wilk.,  i.  340.  8 Cp.  p.  125. 

9 Br.  Die.  Suppl.,  1015.  10  An.,  4,  15,  5 ff. 

11  Mar.  mon.  div.,  6,  1 5 1 , 152.  12  Barth,  Travels  in  Africa,  v.  229. 


240 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


of  all  that  was  rough  and  wild.  The  crocodile,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
regarded  as  the  terrible  ruler  of  the  water,  and  it  was  believed  that  the 
water -god  Sobk  assumed  his  shape.  Both  have  now  deserted  Egypt, 
but  formerly  they  were  as  numerous  in  that  country  as  in  tropical  Africa. 
The  pictures  of  the  time  of  the  Old  Empire  represent  them  frequently — 
the  crocodile  lying  in  wait  for  the  cows  when  they  should  come  into  the 
water,  the  hippopotamus  in  blind  rage  attacking  the  rudder  of  a boat,  or 
even  seizing  a crocodile  with  his  powerful  teeth.  The  crocodile  was 
hunted,  in  spite  of  its  sanctity  as  being  sacred  to  the  water  god  ; and 
that  there  are  no  representations  of  this  sport  is  owing  probably  to  the 
fact  that  they  had  scruples  of  conscience  about  it.  There  were  no 
religious  scruples  however  about  the  hippopotamus,  and  men  of  rank  of 
all  times  liked  to  have  representations  of  hippopotamus-hunting  in  their 
tombs,1  the  more  so  because  the  spice  of  danger  made  them  proud 
of  their  success.  They  seem  to  have  pursued  the  hippopotamus  only 


on  the  water  from  their  boats  ; a harpoon  served  as  weapon,  the  shaft  of 
which  freed  itself  from  the  point  as  soon  as  the  animal  was  hit.  If  the 
wounded  animal  dashed  down  into  deep  water,  the  hunter  allowed  him  to 
do  so,  by  letting  out  the  line  attached  to  the  harpoon,  though  there  was 
danger  of  the  boat  being  carried  under.  The  hippopotamus  was  soon 
obliged  to  rise  to  the  surface  to  breathe,  and  then  the  sportsman  could 
wound  him  again.  Gradually,  as  in  our  whale  fisheries,  the  powerful 
animal  was  exhausted  by  frequent  attacks,  and  finally  a rope  was  thrown 
over  his  great  head  and  the  creature  was  dragged  to  land. 

The  Libyan  deserts  and  the  Arabian  mountains  still  offer  great 
opportunities  for  sport,  and  in  old  times  this  was  yet  more  the  case,  for 
many  animals  which  formerly  inhabited  these  regions  are  only  met  with 
now  in  the  Sudan.  Flocks  of  ibex  climbed  about  the  mountains,  herds 

1 Hippopotamus-hunting — O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  77  ; Perrot,  p.  14  ( = Badeker,  p.  413).  M.  E.  : 
Wilk.,  ii.  128.  N.  E.  : Wilk.,  ii.  129,  after  W.,  ii.  127;  this  sport  is  often  represented  in  the 
Theban  tombs,  the  pictures  are  unfortunately  generally  injured.  Fully  described,  W.,  ii.  127,  the 
harpoon  of  the  O.  E.  does  not  seem  to  have  been  so  complicated  as  the  one  there  described  of 
the  N.  E.  It  is  doubtful,  according  to  Wilkinson’s  figure,  whether  it  was  a lasso  which  was  thrown 
over  the  animal’s  head.  It  might  be  a net  like  that  still  used  in  Africa  to  throw  over  the  heads  of 
wild  boar. 


XI 


RECREA  TION 


241 


of  gazelles  sported  about  the  sand  dunes  ; there  were  also  antelopes  and 
animals  of  the  cow  kind.  The  hyaena  howled  and  the  jackal  and  fox 
prowled  about  the  mountains  on  the  edge  of  the  desert ; there  were  also 
numerous  hares  and  hedgehogs,  ichneumons,  civet  cats,  and  other  small 


animals.  There  was  big  game  too  for  the  lovers  of  an  exciting  hunt  ; 
they  could  follow  the  “ furious  ” leopard  or  the  “ savage-looking  ” lion.1 
Possibly  the  imaginative  huntsman  hoped  also  to  obtain  as  a prize  one  of 

1 Beautiful  representations  of  wild  animals — O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  6,  n,  46,  96  ; Diim.  Res.,  8,  9. 
M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  131,  132.  N.  E.  : Wilk.,  ii.  92. 

R 


242 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


those  marvellous  animals  spoken  of  by  everybody,  but  which  no  living 
man  had  ever  seen,1  the  ‘ achech , the  swiftest  of  all  animals,  which  was 
half-bird,  half-lion  ; or  the  sphinx,  that  royal  beast  with  the  head  of  a 
man  or  of  a ram,  and  the  body  of  a lion  ; or  the  winged  gazelle,  or  even 
the  sag,  the  creature  uniting  the  body  of  a lioness  with  the  head  of  a 
hawk,  and  whose  tail  ended  in  a lotus  flower.  All  these  animals  and 
many  others  of  similar  character  were  supposed  to  exist  in  the  great 
desert,  and  Chnemhotep,  the  oft-mentioned  governor  of  Middle  Egypt 
under  the  1 2th  dynasty,  caused  a panther  with  a winged  face  growing 
out  of  his  back  to  be  represented  amongst  the  animals  in  his  great 
hunting  scene.  He  was  probably  of  the  opinion  that  such  a creature 
would  cause  the  neighbourhood  of  Beni  Hasan  to  be  unsafe. 

The  Egyptians  of  all  ages  loved  desert  hunting.  We  know  that  the 

kings  of  the  Old  Empire  had  their 
own  “ master  of  the  hunt,”  who 
was  also  district  chief  of  the 
desert  ; 2 and  as  regards  the 
Pharaohs  of  the  New  Empire,  we 
often  read  of  their  hunting  in  per- 
son. Thothmes  IV.,  accompanied 
only  by  two  lions,  used  to  hunt  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Memphis,3 
and  we  read  of  his  son  Amenhotep 
III.,  that  during  the  first  ten  years  of  his  reign  he  killed  with  his  own 
hand  “110  savage  lions.” 4 Packs  of  dogs  were  usually  employed  in 
desert  hunting  ; they  were  allowed  to  worry  and  to  kill  the  game.5 
The  hunting  dog  was  the  great  greyhound  with  pointed  upright  ears  and 
curly  tail ; this  dog  (under  the  name  of  SlugJii ) is  still  in  use  for  the  same 
purpose  on  the  steppes  of  the  Sudan.  It  is  a favourite  subject  in  Egyptian 
pictures  to  show  how  cleverly  they  would  bury  their  pointed  teeth  in  the 
neck  or  in  the  back  paws  of  the  antelopes.  These  graceful  dogs  also 
ventured  to  attack  the  larger  beasts  of  prey.  A picture  of  the  time 
of  the  Old  Empire  represents  a huntsman  who,  having  led  an  ox  to  a 
hilly  point  in  the  desert,  lies  in  wait  himself  in  the  background  with  two 
greyhounds.  The  ox,  finding  himself  abandoned,  bellows  in  terror ; this 
entices  a great  lion  to  the  spot,  and  the  huntsman  watches  in  breathless 
suspense,  ready  in  a moment  to  slip  the  leash  from  the  dogs  and  let  them 
fall  on  the  lion,6  while  the  king  of  animals  springs  on  the  head  of  the 
terrified  ox. 

The  Egyptians  were  also  fond  of  taking  antelopes  alive,  not  in  order 
to  stock  their  parks  with  them,  but  to  fatten  them  with  their  cattle.  They 

1 Fabulous  animals:  L.  D.,  ii.  131  ; Wilk.,  ii.  93,  iii.  309-312  ; Ros.  M.  C.,  23  ; Maspero,  Guide, 
p.  169,  rightly  recognises  that  sphinxes  belong  here. 

2 L.  D.,  ii.  3.  He  carries  the  throw-stick — did  they  also  use  it  in  desert  hunting? 

3 L.  D.,  iii.  68.  4 Frequent  inscriptions  on  the  scarabs  of  his  reign. 

5 O.  E.  : Diim.  Res.,  8;  L.  D.,  ii.  6,  46.  N.  E.  : Wilk.,  ii.  92  = Ros.  M.  C.,  15.  Perrot, 
291,  is  interesting;  the  hunting  ground  seems  to  be  surrounded  with  a net.  6 Diim.  Res.,  8. 


PICTURE  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  MIDDLE  EMPIRE 
(after  Wilk. , ii.  87). 


XI 


RECREA  TION 


243 


seem  to  have  caught  the  ibex  of  the  hills  by  hand  j1  in  the  desert  however 
they  employed  the  lasso,  a long  rope  with  a ball  at  the  end,  which  when 
thrown  at  an  object  wound  itself  round  it.2  A skilled  sportsman  would 
throw  the  lasso  so  that  the  rope  wound  round  the  legs  and  body  of  the 
animal,  while  the  end  twisted  itself  in  the  horns.  A powerful  jerk  from 
the  huntsman  then  sufficed  to  throw  the  animal  helplessly  on  the  ground. 

We  might  almost  surmise  that  the  Egyptians  felt  that  scorn  for  shoot- 
ing weapons  common  to  so  many  nations  ; at  any  rate  representations  of 
sport  with  bow  and  arrow  are  much  rarer  than  those  of  hunting.3  Even 
when  shooting  they  employed  dogs  to  start  the  game,  and  possibly 
beaters  armed  with  sticks  to  drive  the  animals  towards  the  sportsmen. 
With  the  powerful  bow  and  the  arrows  a yard  long  it  was  quite  possible 
to  kill  even  lions. 

A passionate  sportsman  is  also  as  a rule  a great  lover  of  animals,  and 
it  delights  him  at  home  to  be  able  to  have  under  his  immediate  obser- 
vation the  game  which  flies  past  him  when  out  hunting.  The  wealthy 
Egyptians  therefore  at  all  times  kept  menageries,  in  which  they  brought 
up  the  animals  taken  by  the  lasso  or  by  the  dogs  in  the  desert,  as  well  as 
those  brought  into  Egypt  by  way  of  commerce  or  as  tribute.  From  the 
neighbouring  deserts  they  obtained  the  lion  and  the  leopard  (which  were 
brought  to  their  masters  in  great  cages),  the  hyaena,  gazelle,  ibex,  hare,  and 
porcupine,  were  also  found  there  ; 4 from  the  incense  countries  and  from  the 
upper  Nile  came  the  pard,  the  baboon,  and  the  giraffe  ;5  and  from  Syria 
the  bear  and  the  elephant.6  They  felt  still  greater  delight  when  these  animals 
were  tamed,  when  the  Ethiopian  animal  the  kaeri  was  taught  to  dance,7 
and  to  understand  words  ; 8 or  when  the  lion  was  trained  to  conquer  his 
savage  nature  and  to  follow  his  master  like  a dog.9  Ramses  II.  possessed 
a tame  lion  which  accompanied  him  to  battle,10  and  which  lay  down  in  the 
camp  at  night  before  the  tent  of  the  royal  master.11  Pet  apes  are  found 
at  all  periods  ; these  were  imported  from  foreign  parts.12  Nebemchut,  an 
Egyptian  courtier  in  the  reign  of  King  Cha‘fre‘,  possessed  two  uncouth 
long-maned  baboons,  and,  accompanied  by  them,  he  with  his  wife  inspected 
the  work  of  his  artisans,  and  certainly  the  great  lord  mightily  enjoyed  the 
inspection  of  his  people  which  the  apes  undertook  for  their  part.13  Most 
people  however  contented  themselves  with  one  small  monkey,  which  wre 
sometimes  see  sitting  under  a chair  busy  pulling  an  onion  to  pieces,  or 
turning  out  the  contents  of  a basket  ; and  though  as  a rule  the  monkey  was 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  46. 

2 O.  E.  : Diim.  Res.,  8 ; L.  D.,  ii.  96.  M.  E.  : Wilk.,  ii.  87.  The  rope  in  which  the  hunts- 
man seems  entangled  is  certainly  the  lasso.  Diim.,  ib. 

3 L.  D.,  ii.  131-132  ; Wilk.,  ii.  88,  S9.  Both,  M.  E. 

4 L.  D.,  ii.  11,  50  b,  107  ; Diim.  Res.,  9,  etc.  5 Diim.  Flotte,  2.  Wilk.  i.  PI.  ii.  a.  b. 

6 Wilk.,  i.,  PI.  ii.  b.  7 An.,  5,  8,  y — An.,  3,  4,  1.  8 Bob,  3,  9. 

9 Bob,  3,  9.  10  L.  D.,  iii.  184  a.  11  L.  D.,  iii.  155. 

12  Mentioned  as  early  as  in  the  pyramid  of  Unas,  423.  Under  the  New  Empire  baboons  and 

monkeys  were  brought  from  Arabia  (Diim.  Fh,  2). 

13  Baboons  under  the  Old  Empire  : L.  D.,  ii.  13,  107. 


244 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


the  lady’s  pet,  yet  several  gentlemen  have  their  pet  monkeys  represented 
with  themselves  in  their  tombs.1 

We  can  well  understand  that  the  Egyptians  with  their  love  for  animals 
should  at  all  times  have  shown  special  affection  towards  man’s  most  faithful 
companion,  the  dog.  Probably  no  wealthy  household  was  complete 
without  the  splendid  great  greyhounds,2  still  employed  in  the  Sudan 
under  the  name  of  Slughi.  They  were  most  precious  to  the  huntsman, 
for  they  were  swifter  than  the  gazelle  and  had  no  fear  even  of  a lion. 
The  Egyptian  who  was  no  sportsman  however  also  loved  to  have  these 
beautiful  creatures  about  him  ; they  accompanied  him  when  he  went  out 
in  his  sedan  chair,  and  lay  under  his  chair  when  he  was  in  the  house.  If 
we  may  believe  the  representations  of  a Memphite  tomb,  Ptahhotep,  a high 
official  under  the  5th  dynasty,  insisted  upon  keeping  his  three  greyhounds 
with  him,  even  while  he  was  listening  to  the  harps  and  flutes  of  his 
musicians,  in  spite  of  the  howls  with  which  these  dogs  of  the  Old  Empire 
seem  to  have  accompanied  the  music.  These  greyhounds,  the  T'esem,  do 
not  appear  to  have  been  natives  of  Egypt  ; under  the  New  Empire  at 
any  rate  they  seem  to  have  been  brought  from  the  incense  countries  of 
the  Red  Sea.  Nevertheless  this  breed  of  dog  was  always  popular  in 
Egypt,  and  a tale  of  the  time  of  the  20th  dynasty  relates  how  a prince 
preferred  to  die  rather  than  part  from  his  faithful  greyhound. 

Under  the  Old  Empire,  besides  the  T'esem,  we  meet  with  a small 
earless  dog,  which  was  also  used  for  coursing  ; it  may  be  that  in  former 
times  they  also  tamed  the  prairie  dogs.3  Under  the  1 ith  dynasty  there 
were  certainly  three  different  breeds  of  dog  known  in  Egypt,  and  later 
there  appear  to  have  been  even  more.  It  is  interesting  that  the  names 
given  by  Egyptian  huntsmen  to  their  dogs  were  often  foreign  ones.  Of 
the  four  dogs  represented  on  the  stela  of  the  ancient  King  ’Entef,  the  first 
two  are  called  Behka’e  and  Pehtes,  which,  as  the  accompanying  inscription 
informs  us,  mean  “ gazelle  ” and  “ black  ” ; it  is  not  quite  clear  what  the 
fourth  name  Teqeru  signifies,  the  third  is  ‘Abaqero,  in  which  Maspero 
has  recognised  with  great  probability  the  word  Abaikour,  the  term  by 
which  the  Berberic  nomads  of  the  Sahara  still  call  their  greyhounds.4 

In  Egypt,  the  land  of  cattle-breeding,  the  bull  held  the  same  place  of 
old  as  the  lion  does  now  in  our  poetry  ; in  Egypt  “ the  strong  bull  ” was 
the  incorporation  of  strength  and  resistless  power,  and  the  poets  describe 
in  detail  how,  with  his  horns  lowered,  he  rushes  on  the  enemy  and 

1 Monkeys:  L.  D.,  ii.  36  c.  Diim.  Res.,  10.  L.  D.,  iii.  9 f,  12  a;  Berlin,  7278,  and  fre- 
quently. With  a man,  Berlin,  7276. 

- Greyhounds  (Cp.  R.  Hartmann,  A.  Z.,  1864,  p.  20)  under  the  New  Empire  come  from  Tunt 
(Diim.  FI.,  2).  Representations  under  the  Old  Empire:  L.  D.,  ii.  17  c,  47,  50a,  52,  107  ; Diim. 
Res.,  10.  Cp.  also  the  hunting  pictures  of  the  O.  E. 

3 Cp.  Diim.  Res.,  8,  9,  and  the  remarks  of  R.  Hartmann  on  the  subject — the  latter  thinks  the 
dog  in  the  lion-hunt  is  a calf.  On  the  other  hand,  that  the  animals  considered  by  Hartmann  to  be 
prairie  dogs  were  used  for  hunting,  appears  improbable,  from  the  absence  of  the  collar,  which  is 
always  worn  by  the  true  hunting  dog. 

4 R.  J.  H.,  161  = Mar.  mon.  div.,  49.  Other  names  of  dogs  : L.  D.  ii.  17  c,  47,  52.  Ros.  M.  C., 
16,  5 ; Berlin,  1192. 


XI 


RECREATION 


245 


tramples  him  underfoot.  It  was  therefore  quite  natural  that  the  Egyptians 
should  take  great  pleasure  in  bull-fights,  and  should  keep  bulls  for  this 
purpose.1  In  the  arena  the  fighting  bulls  had  their  special  names  ; one 
represented  below  is  called  “ the  favourite,”  the  name  of  the  other  may 
signify  the  “ broad  striker.” 2 Shepherds  with  short  sticks  assisted  as 
umpires,  and  “ loosed  ” the  bull  that  was  worsted  from  the  horn  of  his 
opponent,  which  had  pierced  through  his  dewlap.  When  the  fight  between 
the  two  short-horned  bulls  was  at  an  end,  a powerful  animal  of  the  long- 
horned race,  adorned  for  the  festival  with  a gay  cloth,  was  brought  in  to 
fight  the  victor. 

The  pleasure  and  excitement  felt  at  a bull-fight  were  intensified  at  the 
gymnastic  games,  of  which  the  representations  belong  to  all  epochs.  One 


favourite  game  was  sailor-stabbing,  in  which,  for  the  amusement  of  their 
masters,  boatmen  stood  up  in  their  bulrush  skiffs,  and  thrust  at  each 
other  with  their  long  poles.3  The  men  also  had  wrestling  matches  for  the 
same  purpose.  These  were  fought  in  such  earnest  that  many  of  the  com- 
batants had  to  be  carried  off  the  field.4  There  were  prize  fighters  too, 
who  fought  with  short  sticks,  and  wore  a small  piece  of  wood  tied  to 
the  left  arm  to  protect  themselves  from  the  blows  of  their  opponent.5 

Women  also  appeared  before  their  masters  to  perform  gymnastic  feats,6 
or  to  dance,  more  frequently  in  the  latter  capacity,  for  no  feast  was  con- 
sidered complete  without  dancing.  To  the  Egyptian  mind  it  was  the 
natural  expression  of  joy — to  rejoice  and  to  dance  were  synonymous 
expressions  in  their  poetry.  When  the  harvest  was  gathered  in,  and  the 
peasant  sacrificed  the  first  fruits  to  Min  the  god  of  Koptos,  he  danced  to 
testify  his  joyful  thankfulness  to  the  god,  and  when  the  festivals  of  the 
great  goddesses  of  pleasure  Hathor  and  Bastet  were  solemnised,  dancing 
was  considered  as  necessary  as  the  shouting  for  joy  or  the  carrying  of 
wreaths. 

We  know  little  of  these  peculiar  national  dances.  In  one  of  them  the 
dancers  held  two  short  sticks  in  their  hands,  like  our  bones  ; and  in  fact  in 
one  of  the  harvest  representations  of  the  Old  Empire  we  see  the  workmen 

1 M.  E.  : Wilk.,  ii.  75,  77.  N.  E.  : Wilk.,  ii.  75,  76. 

2 Wilk.,  ii.  75,  76. 

3 O.  E.  : Perrot,  41  ; Wilk.,  ii.  74;  Ros.  M.  C.,  104,  105  ; M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  130. 

4 Ros.  M.  C.,  111-115.  5 Wilk.,  ii.  72.  6 Wilk.,  ii.  54,  68. 


246 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


taking  part  in  this  dance  ; they  have  laid  aside  their  clothes,  and  run  with 
quick  movements  clapping  their  sticks  together.1 

Dancers  were  almost  always  present  at  the  “ feast  of  Eternity,” — that 
is  the  feast  held  in  honour  of  the  deceased  ; in  fact  the  procession  accom- 
panying the  statue  of  the  deceased  was  generally  headed  by  dancers.' 


wrestling  scenes  OF  the  time  of  the  middle  empire.  From  Beni  Hasan 
(after  Wilk.,  ii.  71,  and  ib.  i.  394). 


Under  the  Old  Empire  their  movements  appear  to  have  been  very 
measured.  They  first  step  slowly  forwards  one  after  another,  the  foot 
scarcely  raised  above  the  ground  ; they  raise  their  arms  over  the  head, 
turning  the  inner  part  of  the  hand  upwards  ; next  they  stretch  the  right 
arm  obliquely  upwards  and  put  the  left  behind  the  body.  As  a rule  four 
persons  only  took  part  in  this  “ beautiful  dance,”  though  sometimes  there 
might  be  more  than  a dozen.  The  music  consisted  always  of  three  or 
four  female  singers  behind  the  dancers. 

Though  these  dances  appear  very  monotonous  on  the  reliefs,  yet 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  56  a ; Cp.  ib.  52,  the  writing  of  ’eba  “ to  dance.” 

2 Dancing  men — O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  14  a,  41,  52,  53  a,  109.  Dancing  women  — O.  E. : 
L.  D.,  ii.  35,  36,  61  a,  101  b. 


XI 


RECREA  TION 


247 


with  close  attention  we  can  distinguish  different  figures.  At  the  funerary 
festival,  for  instance,  the  singers  and  the  dancers  stand  opposite  each 
other  with  a table  of  food  between  them.1  On  another  occasion  2 behind 
the  singers  there  stands  a little  pillar  adorned  with  the  head  of  a cat, 
representing  Bastet  the  goddess  of  pleasure,  close  by  is  a little  nude 
dwarf ; doubtless  both  were  to  play  their  part  in  the  further  development 
of  the  dance. 

When  dancing,  men  wore  as  a rule  the  ordinary  short  skirt,  they 
sometimes  also  put  on  a girdle  tied  in  a bow  behind.3  Women  dancers 
also  rarely  wore  long  dresses  ; 4 like  the  men,  they  generally  wore 
nothing  but  the  short  skirt  round  the  hips.  In  addition  they  put  on 
all  manner  of  coquettish  ornaments  — bracelets,  necklets,  anklets  ; they 
wound  ribbons  round  the  upper  part  of  the  body,  and  put  on  a wreath  of 
flowers.  According  to  the  inscriptions  these  dancers  and  singers  belonged 


to  the  harem  of  the  great  man  concerned.  ’ In  addition  to  these  simple 
dances,  in  which  a large  number  of  people  could  join,  there  were  others,0 
in  which  two  dancers  formed  a difficult  group  together.  These  dances  are 
also  distinguished  by  their  name  jjEEj  t' ercf  from  the  ordinary 

dances  (j  Jj  ’eb.  Three  of  these  figures  are  represented  in  a tomb  of 

the  end  of  the  4th  dynasty.  The  two  dancers,  wearing  a fringed  girdle 
as  their  only  clothing,  stand  opposite  each  other  with  outstretched  arms 
grasping  each  other  by  the  hand.  Both  perform  exactly  the  same  move- 
ments. In  one  figure  they  raise  one  arm  and  one  foot  towards  their 
partner,  in  another  they  draw  up  their  foot  like  a crane,  in  the  third  they 
turn  away  from  each  other  and  appear  to  be  about  to  run  away  to  either 
side.  Each  of  these  groups  has  its  own  name  (eg.  the  second  appears 
to  be  called  the  pillar')  ; to  the  Egyptian,  each  group  represented  a certain 
scene. 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  35.  2 L.  D.,  ii.  36.  3 L.  D.,  ii.  14  a. 

5 lb.  35,  52,  101  b;  Br.  Gr.  W.,  81. 

6 Figure  dancing — O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  52.  M.  E.  : ib.  126.  Wilk.,  i.  505. 


4 Ib.  35- 


248 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


The  figures  which  were  danced  at  the  funerary  feast  of  the  nomarch 
Chnemhotep  in  the  time  of  the  1 2th  dynasty,  are  comparatively  easy  to 


understand  ; they  are  seen  in  the  accompanying  illustration  from  Beni 
Hasan.  The  dress  of  the  dancers  consists  apparently  of  short  bathing 

e 9 • 


picture  OF  the  time  of  the  middle  empire.  From  Beni  Hasan  (after  Wilk.,  ii.  65). 

drawers  only  ; for  the  further  amusement  of  the  spectators  they  have  tied 
up  their  hair  in  the  shape  of  the  royal  crown  of  Upper  Egypt.  One  figure, 
in  fact,  parodies  a royal  group,  one  of  the  frequent  victory  reliefs,  in  which 


XI 


RECREA  TION 


249 


the  monarch  seizes  the  kneeling  barbarian  by  the  hair,  and  swings  his 
sickle-shaped  sword  above  his  head.  This  group  is  called  “ L nder  the 
feet,”  the  superscription  over  the  relief  being  always,  “ all  nations  lie  under 
thy  feet.”  Another  group  in  the  same  picture  is  called  the  wind : one 
woman  bends  backwards,  till  her  hands  rest  on  the  ground,  a second 
performs  the  same  movement  above  her,  a third  stretches  out  her  arms 
over  them.  Possibly  the  former  represent  the  reeds  and  grasses  bent  by 
the  wind. 

In  the  tombs  of  Beni  Hasan  we  have  also  representations  of  women 
playing  with  balls,  which  was  considered,  as  we  see  by  the  costume  of  the 


FEMALE  DANCERS  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE,  THE  TALL  ONES  WITH  KETTLEDRUMS, 

the  short  ones  with  castanets  (Relief  at  Gizeh,  after  Perrot-Chipiez). 

performers,  as  a variety  of  dancing.1  These  dancers  excelled  in  all  kinds 
of  skilful  tricks.  We  see  them  playing  with  several  balls  at  once,  or 
catching  two  balls  with  their  arms  crossed.  They  get  into  all  sorts  of 
curious  positions  at  their  play  ; they  stand  on  one  leg,  jump  high  into  the 
air,  or  ride  on  the  back  of  one  of  their  companions. 

Whilst  the  character  of  the  dances  of  the  older  period  was  quiet  and 
measured,  the  dances  of  the  New  Empire  were  more  like  those  of  the 
East  of  the  present  time.2  The  girls  are  dressed  in  long  transparent 
clothes,  and  with  tambourine  or  castanets  in  their  hands  they  turn  round 
and  round  in  quick  time,  bending  their  bodies  in  a coquettish  manner. 

1 Wilk.,  ii.  65,  66.  Balls  ib.  67,  similar  ones  in  Berlin  and  Paris. 

2 Wilk.,  i.  439,  443,  pi.  xi.  ; Perrot,  701  ; Ros.  M.  C. , 96,  98,  99. 


250 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


The  old  Egyptians  took  no  more  offence  at  these  questionable  movements 
of  the  dancers  than  do  the  modern  Egyptians  of  to-day  ; it  was  a 
favourite  amusement  to  look  on  at  this  dancing,  and  at  social  parties 
dancers  were  invited  for  the  entertainment  of  the  guests.  The  accom- 
panying plate1  shows  us  a feast  of  this  kind.  The  girls,  wearing  nothing 
but  girdles,  stand  close  to  the  wreathed  wine  jars  ; they  go  through  their 
twists  and  turns,  clapping  their  hands  to  keep  in  time.  Meanwhile  one 
woman  plays  the  flute,  and  three  others  sing  a song,  evidently  in  praise 
of  the  pleasures  of  the  cool  happy  time  of  inundation,  during  which 
season,  as  is  the  custom  at  the  present  day,  the  feast  was  given  : 

The  earth-god  causes  his  beauty  to  grow  in  the  heart  of  every  creature, 

This  is  the  work  of  Ptah’s  hands,  this  is  balm  to  his  breast, 

When  the  tanks  are  full  of  fresh  water, 

And  the  earth  overflows  with  his  love. 


Every  large  household  had  its  harem  and  the  inmates  were  careful 


blind  singers.  Picture  from  Tell  el  Amarna  (after  Wilk. , i.  442). 


that  music  and  song  should  never  fail  at  any  feast,  secular  or  sacred. 
In  the  royal  household  moreover,  where  the  musicians  were  very  numerous, 
they  were  under  a superintendent,  who  may  be  regarded  as  a professional. 
A number  of  names  of  these  ancient  choir-masters  have  come  down  to 
us.  Under  the  Old  Empire  we  meet  with  a certain  Ra'henem,  the  “super- 
intendent of  the  singing,”  2 who  was  also  the  superintendent  of  the  harem. 
There  were  also  three  “ superintendents  of  the  royal  singing  ” who  were 
at  the  same  time  “ superintendents  of  all  the  beautiful  pleasures  of  the 
king  ” — their  names  were  Snefrunofr,  ’Et’e,  and  Re‘mery-Ptah  ; the  two 
last  were  singers  themselves  and  boast  that  they  “ daily  rejoice  the  heart 
of  the  king  with  beautiful  songs,  and  fulfil  every  wish  of  the  king  by 
their  beautiful  singing.”  At  court  they  held  a high  position,  they  were 

1 Feast  with  music  and  female  dancers.  Amongst  the  guests  in  the  upper  row  two  married 
couples  sit  in  front  on  arm  chairs,  behind  them  on  stools  sit  alternately  secular  and  priestly 
gentlemen.  (After  a Theban  tomb  picture  of  the  1 8th  dynasty  in  the  Brit.  Mus. ) 

- Mar.  Mast.,  139  f.  The  reading  of  the  name  is  uncertain. 


FEAST,  WITH  MUSICIANS  AND  DANCING  GIRLS. 

Wall  picture  from  a Theban  tomb  in  the  British  Museum.  (After  a photograph  by  Wilke.)  [To  face  page  250. 


XI 


RECREA  TION 


25! 


“ royal  relatives,  ’ and  priests  of  the  monarch  and  of  his  ancestors.1  Under 
the  New  Empire  we  find  H‘at-’euy  and  Ta2  singers  to  Pharaoh,  and 
Neferronpet  the  “ superintendent  of  the  singers  to  Pharaoh,”  s who  was  at 


the  same  time  “ superintendent  of  the 
singers  of  all  the  gods,”  and  therefore 
at  the  head  of  the  musical  profession 
in  Egypt. 

It  is  certainly  not  accidental  that 
in  the  pictures  of  the  Old  Empire 4 
the  women  appear  always  to  sing 
without,  and  the  men  with,  instru- 
mental accompaniment  ; the  women’s 
voices  were  considered  pleasant  to 
listen  to  alone,  but  the  men’s,  on  the 
other  hand,  were  preferred  with  harps 
alone  seem  to  have  been  regarded  a 
only  as  an  accompaniment  to  the  da 


HARP  UNDER  THE  OLD  EMPIRE 

(after  L.  D. , ii.  61  a). 


and  flutes.  Nevertheless  the  men 
artists,  the  women  probably  sang 
ices.  It  was  the  usual  custom  for 


PRIESTS  PLAYING  harps.  From  the  tomb  of  Ramses  III.  (Ros.  M.  C.,  97). 


singers  to  mark  the  time  by  clapping  their  hands  ; men  waved  their 
arms  quickly  when  singing,  while  etiquette  forbade  the  women  to  do 
more  than  move  their  hands.  We  see  that,  according  to  Egyptian  ideas, 
these  barbaric  customs  and  correct  singing  were  inseparable,  for  the  word 
to  sing  is  written  at  all  times  by  the  sign  of  a hand. 

Even  under  the  New  Empire  this  custom  of  beating  time  was  in  use, 

1 Mar.  Mast.,  153;  R.  J.  H.,  3-4,  88;  L.  D.,  ii.  59. 

2 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab. , 1 1 1 5,  425. 

Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1159.  His  brother  is  superintendent  of  the  harem,  and  priest  of  the 
crowns. 

4 Female  singers  at  the  dance.  O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  36  c,  52,  53  a,  61  a.  101  b.  Singers  with 
music— O.  F„  : L.  D.,  ii.  36  c,  52,  53,  61,  74. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


252 


more  scope  however  was  allowed  in  their  manner  of  singing,  and  male  and 
female  voices  were  employed  individually,  or  together  with  instruments.1 
The  blind,  of  whom  there  have  always  been  man)r  in  Egypt,  were  much 
liked  as  singers  ; 2 the  best  school  for  female  singers  was  at  Memphis.3 

The  harp  4 was  always  the  favourite  instrument  ; harps  of  two  sizes 
were  in  use,  that  of  medium  size  had  six  or  seven  strings,  while  the  larger 


GIRL  PLAYING  THE  LUTE.  THE  PLECTRUM  WITH  WHICH  SHE  STRIKES  HER  THREE  - STRINGED 

instrument  hangs  by  A string.  Theban  tomb-picture  of  the  time  of  the  New  Empire 
(after  Perrot-Chipiez). 


one  had  often  twenty  strings  ; for  the  former  the  performer  was  seated,  for 
the  latter  he  was  obliged  to  stand.  A very  small  harp,  played  resting 
on  the  shoulder,  appears  only  in  the  time  of  the  New  Empire."  The 

1 Male  singers  : Wilk.,  i.  442,  462.  Female  singers  : ib.  440,  441.  Both  together  : ib.  441. 

2 Wilk.,  i.  438,  442.  3 An.,  3,  3,  7. 

4 Harps  of  the  O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  36  c ; 52,  53,  61,  74.  Of  the  M.  E.  : Wilk.,  i.  442.  Of  the 
N.  E.  : Wilk.,  i.  436,  438,  441,  442,  462,  464,  pi.  xi. 

5 Wilk.,  i.  465.  Here  belong  also  the  small  instruments  in  Berlin  and  London,  ib.  473,  474. 


XI 


RECREATION 


construction  of  the  harp  does  not  always  seem  to  have  been  the  same, 
for  instance,  the  resonance  chamber  at  the  lower  end  of  the  instrument 
is  found  only  during  a later  period.1 

The  lute  was  also  in  common  use,  its  name  J nefer  is  one  of  the 

commonest  signs  in  hieroglyphics.  Its  Egyptian  name  was  derived  from 
the  Semitic  n.  b.  1.  ; it  was  played  by 
striking  it  with  the  plectrum,  and  seems 
to  have  been  a very  primitive  instrument, 
possessing  originally  only  one  string.1’ 

The  trigonon,  the  small  three  - stringed 
harp,  first  appears  under  the  New  Em- 
pire ; in  still  later  times  it  became  very 
common.  This  instrument  may  possibly 
have  been  of  foreign  origin,3  as  was  doubt- 
less the  lyre.  We  meet  with  the  latter 
but  once  before  the  time  of  the  1 8th 
dynasty,  and  then  indeed  in  the  hands  of 
a Beduin  bringing  tribute.  It  is  frequently 
represented  after  the  Egyptians  had  con- 
tinuous intercourse  with  the  Semites,  and 
was  evidently  the  fashionable  instrument 
of  the  New  Empire.4  It  is  found  of  all 
sizes  and  shapes,  from  the  little  instru- 
ments with  five  strings,  which  ladies  could 
easily  hold,  to  those  with  eighteen  strings, 
some  of  which  were  six  feet  high,  the  per- 
former having  to  stand  by  them.  The 
reader  can  see  lyres  of  different  sizes 
together  with  lutes  and  harps  in  the 
picture  of  the  house,  p.  181. 

The  flute  was  the  only  wind  instrument  in  use.  There  were  two 


BEDUIN  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  MIDDLE 
EMPIRE  PLAYING  THE  LYRE  (after 
L.  D.,  ii.  133). 


which 


forms  of  flute  under  the  Old  Empire  ; the  long  flute, 

the  player  held  obliquely  behind  him,  and  the  short  flute  ' o±  \ which 
was  held  horizontally  when  played.  ’ Under  the  New  Empire  these  were 


1 Under  the  O.  E.  at  any  rate,  L.  D.,  ii.  53.  Under  the  M.  E.  an  open  sounding-box  may 
have  been  fastened  under  the  end  of  the  harp,  cp.  Wilk.,  i.  442.  Under  the  N.  E.  small 
instruments  constructed  with  a belly,  e.g.  Wilk.,  i.  473,  442  ; large  ones  with  an  ornamented  box. 
The  tone  was  also  strengthened  by  placing  the  harp  on  a pillar  instead  of  on  the  ground  ; cp. 
Wilk.,  i.  438,  462,  464. 

2 Wilk.,  i.  481,  482,  483,  pi.  xi. — all  of  the  N.  E.  That  the  lute  existed  previously  we  only 
judge  from  the  hieroglyphs. 

3 L.  D.,  iii.  106,  Wilk.,  i.  469,  ib.  470,  an  example  in  the  Louvre  with  twenty-one  strings,  others 
ib.  474. 

4 Wilk.,  i.  439,  441,  470,  476,  ib.  477,  478.  Examples  are  preserved  in  Berlin  and  Leyden. 

5 Flutes  of  the  O.  E.  : L.  IX,  ii.  36  c,  52,  61,  74. 


254 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


almost  suppressed  in  favour  of  double  flutes,  as  e.g.  that  played  by  the 
musician  in  the  accompanying  plate.1 

Finally  we  must  mention  the  round  and  square  kettledrums,2 3  and  the 
castanets,2  which  were  the  instruments  usually  played  by  the  dancers,  also 
the  barrel-shaped  drum  and  the  trumpets  of  the  soldiers  ; we  shall  then 
have  enumerated  almost  all  the  instruments  on  which  the  ancient 
Egyptians  of  the  various  periods  depended  for  their  musical  pleasure.4 5 


FLUTE-PLAYERS  UNDER  THE  OLD  EMPIRE  (after  L.  D.  , ii.  74). 


Under  the  Old  Empire  instrumental  music  seems  to  have  been 
performed  solely  by  men,  and  to  have  served  merely  as  an  accompaniment 
to  the  voices.  The  instruments  commonly  used  at  a concert  of  that  time 
consisted  of  two  harps,  a large  and  a small  flute  ; while  close  to  each 
musician  stood  a singer,  who  also  beat  time  by  clapping  his  hands.0  On 
rare  occasions  the  harp  was  employed  alone  to  accompany  singing,6  but  at 
this  earlier  period  flutes  were  never  used  alone.7  Under  the  New  Empire 
on  the  other  hand  women  performers  were  more  frequent,  and  female  as 
well  as  male  voices  were  combined  with  all  manner  of  instruments.  A 
large  harp,  two  lutes  (or  a lute  and  a lyre)  and  a double  flute  were  used 
at  this  later  period  as  the  usual  accompaniment  to  the  voices.s 

During  the  performance  of  music  and  dancing  at  feasts,  the  guests  in 
no  way  appear  so  engrossed  in  these  pleasures  as  is  required  by  etiquette 
at  our  musical  soirees.  On  the  contrary,  they  drink  and  talk,  and  busy 
themselves  with  their  toilette.  As  I remarked  above,  the  Egyptian  idea 
of  a social  feast  was  that  the  guests  should  be  anointed  and  wreathed 
bv  the  attendants,  that  they  should  receive  new  necklets,  and  that  lotus 

1 Double  flutes  of  the  N.  E.  : Wilk.,  i.  436,  438,  439,  440,  441.  A single  one,  ib.  440,  486. 
Flutes  in  the  Brit.  Mus. , ib.  4S6. 

- Kettledrums  : Perrot,  701  ; Wilk.,  i.  439,  443. 

3 Perrot,  701,  838.  In  many  museums,  often  in  the  shape  of  a hand. 

4 A curious  instrument  of  the  M.  E.  : Wilk.,  i.  442.  In  An.,  4,  12,  2,  the  flutes  are  called 
tiad^a'e  and  uar,  and  the  stringed  instruments  ken'en'euru , and  nat’achc.  Of  these  foreign  barbaric 
names  we  can  only  identify  the  last  but  one,  the  kinnSr  or  lyre. 

5 L.  D.,  ii.  52,  61,  74.  6 L.  D. , ii.  53. 

7 They  were  thus  employed  under  the  N.  E.  ; cp.  the  above  illus.  from  the  Brit.  Mus. 

8 E.g.  Wilk.,  i.  438,  440,  441.  At  sacrifices,  L.  D. , iii.  236. 


EGYPTIAN  LADIES  AT  A FEAST. 

Wall  picture  from  a Theban  tomb  in  the  British  Museum.  (After  a photograph  by  Wilke.)  \To  face  page  255. 


XT 


RECREA  TION 


255 


flowers  and  buds  should  be  placed  on  the  black  tresses  of  their  wigs.  If 
we  look  at  the  feast  represented  in  the  accompanying  plate,1  or  at  any 
one  of  the  many  similar  pictures'  of  the  New  Empire,  we  see  how 
absorbed  the  women  of  the  party  are  in  their  own  adornment  ; they  give 
each  other  their  flowers  to  smell,  or  in  their  curiosity  they  take  hold  of 
their  neighbour’s  new  earrings.3  The  serving  boys  and  girls  go  round 
offering  ointment,  wreaths,  perfumes,  and  bowls  of  wine.  They  challenge 
the  guests  at  the  same  time  to  “celebrate  the  joyful  day”4  by  the 
enjoyment  of  the  pleasure  of  the  present  moment  ; the  singers  also  con- 
tinually repeat  the  same  as  the  refrain  to  their  song.  They  sing  to  the 
guests  as  they  quaff  the  wine  : 

“ Celebrate  the  joyful  day  ! 

Let  sweet  odours  and  oils  be  placed  for  thy  nostrils, 

Wreaths  of  lotus  flowers  for  the  limbs 

And  for  the  bosom  of  thy  sister,  dwelling  in  thy  heart 

Sitting  beside  thee. 

Let  song  and  music  be  made  before  thee. 

Cast  behind  thee  all  cares  and  mind  thee  of  pleasure, 

Till  cometh  the  day  when  we  draw  towards  the  land 
That  loveth  silence.”  5 

or : 

“ Celebrate  the  joyful  day,  with  contented  heart 
And  a spirit  full  of  gladness.”  6 

or  : 

“ Put  myrrh  on  thy  head,  array  thyself  in  fine  linen 
Anointing  thyself  with  the  true  wonders  of  God. 

Adorn  thyself  with  all  the  beauty  thou  canst. 

With  a beaming  face  celebrate  the  joyful  day  and  rest  not  therein. 

For  no  one  can  take  away  his  goods  with  him, 

Yea,  no  one  returns  again,  who  has  gone  hence.”  7 

The  guests,  hearing  these  admonitions  to  enjoy  life  while  they  may, 
before  death  comes  to  make  an  end  of  all  pleasure,  console  themselves 
with  wine,  and  finally,  as  was  considered  suitable  at  every  feast,  “ the 
banquet  is  disordered  by  drunkenness.” 8 Even  the  ladies  do  not  refrain 
from  excess,  for  when  they  at  last  refuse  the  ever-offered  bowl,  they 
have  already,  as  our  picture  shows,  presumed  too  much  on  their  powers. 
One  lady  squats  miserably  on  the  ground,  her  robe  slips  down  from  her 
shoulder,  the  old  attendant  is  summoned  hastily,  but  alas  ! she  comes  too 
late.9  This  conclusion  to  the  banquet  is  no  exaggerated  caricature.  In 

1 Feast.  In  the  upper  row  three  married  couples,  in  the  lower  eight  ladies,  the  gentlemen  sit 
behind  on  simple  stools.  (Theban  tomb  picture  of  the  18th  dynasty  now  in  the  Brit.  Mus.) 

2 See  particularly  Ros.  M.  C.,  79,  also  Wilk.,  i.  424,  426,  427,  430,  pi.  xi. 

3 Wilk.,  ii.  21. 

4 That  this  was  a cry  to  the  guests  we  see  by  WTilk.,  pi.  xi.,  where  the  servant  thus  apostrophises 
one  of  the  guests,  the  chief  of  the  mercenaries.  Cp.  also  Ros.  M.  C.,  96. 

5 Diim.  Hist.  Inscrip.,  ii.  40.  Cp.  A.  Z.,  1873,  60  ff.  Also  Records  of  the  Past,  vol.  vi.  p.  129. 

6 Wilk.,  i.  pi.  xi. 

' Harr.,  500,  14,  10  ff.  ; Cp.  also  Records  of  the  Past,  vol.  iv.  p.  1x8. 

8 Turin  love  songs,  Maspero,  Etud.  Egypt,  i.  228. 

9 A similar  picture,  Wilk.,  i.  393. 


256 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


other  countries  and  in  other  ages  it  may  also  happen  that  a lady  may 
drink  more  than  she  need,  but  in  the  Egypt  of  the  New  Empire,  where  this 
pitiful  scene  is  perpetuated  on  the  wall  of  a tomb,  it  was  evidently  regarded 
merely  as  a trifling  incident,  occurring  at  each  banquet,  and  at  which  no 
one  could  take  offence. 

The  Egyptians  were  not  content  with  the  feasts  instituted  at  great 
festivals,  but  when  the  opportunity  arose,  they  were  quite  willing  without 


FROM  A THEBAN  TOMB  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  NEW  EMPIRE  (after  Wilk. , i.  392). 

any  particular  reason  to  arrange  a “ house  of  beer,”  i.e.  a small  banquet.1 2 
We  have  already  seen  an  instance  of  this  (p.  144)  in  which  the  judges  had 
arranged  one  of  these  pleasure  parties  with  the  accused,  and  had  heavily 
to  atone  for  their  indiscretion."  Wrell  might  the  wise  ’Eney  teach:  “Drink 
not  beer  to  excess  ! . . . The  words  that  come  out  of  thy  mouth,  thou  canst 
not  recall.  Thou  dost  fall  and  break  thy  limbs,  and  no  one  reaches  out 
a hand  to  thee.  Thy  comrades  go  on  drinking,  they  stand  up  and  say  : 

‘ Away  with  this  fellow  who  is  drunk.’  If  any  one  should  then  seek  thee 
to  ask  counsel  of  thee,  thou  wouldst  be  found  lying  in  the  dust  like  a little 
child.”  3 These  words  of  wisdom,  however,  were  as  useless  as  those  of 
Dauuf,  who  entreated  his  son  to  content  himself  with  two  jugs  of  beer 
and  three  loaves  of  bread.4  The  Egyptian  youth  seems  to  have  followed 
his  own  sweet  will,  and  one  teacher  wrote  sorrowfully  to  his  pupil  as 
follows  :5 — 

“ I am  told  : thou  dost  forsake  books, 

Thou  dost  abandon  thyself  to  pleasure, 

Thou  dost  wander  from  street  to  street ; 

Every  evening  the  smell  of  beer, 

The  smell  of  beer  scares  away  men  (from  thee), 

It  destroys  thy  soul. 


1 P j.  T.,  6,  1 ; Mar.  mon.  div.,  6,  134,  and  in  the  passage  lately  quoted  from  the  Turin  love  songs. 

2 P j.  T.,  6,  1.  3 Pap.  de  Boul.,  i.  17,  6 ff.  4 Sail.,  2,  10,  6. 

8 An.,  4,  11,  8 ff.  Also  the  beginning  of  Sail.,  i.  9,  9 ff. 


XI 


RECREA  TION 


257 


Thou  art  as  a broken  oar, 

That  can  guide  to  neither  side, 

Thou  art  as  a temple  without  its  god, 

A house  without  bread. 

Thou  art  caught  as  thou  dost  climb  upon  the  walls, 

And  dost  break  the  plank, 

The  people  flee  from  thee, 

And  thou  dost  strike  and  wound  them. 

Oh  that  thou  didst  understand  that  wine  is  an  abomination, 
And  that  thou  wouldest  abjure  the  shedeh  drink, 

That  thou  didst  not  set  thy  heart  on  cool  drinks, 

And  that  thou  wouldest  forget  the  T’enreku. 

Now  thou  art  instructed  how  to  sing  to  the  flute, 

To  recite  (?)  to  the  pipe  (?), 

To  intone  to  the  lyre. 

To  sing  to  the  harp.” 


Girls  are  also  represented  in  the  company  of  an  inebriated  man  ; they 
embrace  him  and  he  sits  by  them  “ imbrued  with  oil,  and  with  a wreath 
of  cotton  weed  round  his  neck.”  1 He  may  then  pat  himself  in  a contented 
way,  but  when  he  tries  to  get  up,  he  tumbles  and  falls  down  and  “ be- 
spatters himself  with  mud  like  a crocodile.” 

It  was  not  however  at  all  necessary  for  the  young  men  to  fill  up  their 
idle  hours  with  pleasures 
such  as  these  ; even  in  old 
times  there  were  games 
and  many  other  kinds  of 
recreation  with  which  they 
could  refresh  themselves 
after  their  studies.  They 
had  bows  and  arrows  with 
which  they  might  shoot  at 
targets  made  of  the  skin 
of  some  animal,2  or  they 
had  a game  they  played  similar  to  one  of  our  own,  in  which  by  a powerful 
throw  a point  was  driven  obliquely  into  a block  of  wood,  whilst  the 
opponent  had  to  drive  it  out  again  with  his  own  point.3  There  was  also 
a game  with  two  hooks  and  a ring,4  and  many  others,  about  which  we  can 
ascertain  nothing  from  the  monuments.  For  those  who  did  not  care  for 
these  trials  of  strength,  there  were  games  of  chance  or  of  skill.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  dice  go  back  to  the  older  period  of  Egyptian  history,5 


UNKNOWN  GAME  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  MIDDLE  EMPIRE  ; POS- 
SIBLY THE  MAN  KNEELING  HAD  TO  GUESS  WHO  STRUCK  HIM 

(after  Wilk. , ii.  6i  = Ros.  M.  C. , 102). 


1 Both  expressions  used  in  this  passage, 


o 


/W NM 


must 


refer  to  the  Egyptian  demimonde.  The  former  appears  to  signify  “nurse,”  the  orthography  of  the 
latter  is  connected  with  meses  to  give  birth. 

- Wilk.,  i.  406,  ib.  27. 

O.  E.  : in  the  tomb  of  Ptahhotep  ; M.  E.  : Wilk.,  ii.  69. 

4 M.  E.  : Wilk.,  ii.  62.  5 Cp.  Wilk.,  ii.  62. 

S 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP.  XI 


but  the  game  now  known  in  Italy  by  the  name  of  viora  was  possibly 
played  by  the  Egyptians  round  a pot  even  under  the  Old  Empire.1  In 
the  same  way  we  also  find  another  old  game  for  which  concentric  circles 
were  drawn  on  the  ground.2  Each  of  the  players  put  a stone  inside  the 
ciicles,  but  what  was  exactly  the  object  of  the  game  or  how  it  was  played 
we  cannot  determine,  as  we  only  possess  one  single  picture  in  which  it 
is  lepiesented.  I he  game  of  draughts,  of  which  we  have  many  repre- 


BOAKD  for  A game,  fkom  the  Abbott  collection.  Front  and  back  view  (after  Wilk. ,-ii.  58). 


sentations,3  as  well  as  many  boards  in  existence,4  is  almost  as  obscure  as 
the  other  games.  This  was  the  favourite  game  of  the  ancient  Egyptians, 
the  game  which  they  were  allowed  to  play  even  in  the  nether  world.5 
We  know  that  there  were  many  ways  of  playing  this  game  ; this  is 
proved  by  the  various  boards  which  we  possess,  but  it  is  impossible 
now  to  determine  the  particular  construction  of  each  game. 

1 O.  E.  : perhaps  Br.  Gr.  W.  137  ; N.  E : Wilk.,  ii.  55,  round  a pot. 

2 O.  E.  : Wilk.,  ii.  61.  Another  puzzling  game,  Wilk.,  ii.  70. 

3 O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  61  ; M.  E.  : Wilk.,  ii.  57  = Perrot,  25S ; N.  E.  : Wilk.,  ii.  59  60;  L.  D. 
iii.  208. 

4 Wilk.,  ii.  58  ( = Prisse  monum.,  49,  p.  9);  Mar.  mon.  div.,  51  j ( = Maspero,  Guide,  3182)  ; 
Maspero,  Guide,  3183,  ib.  4673. 

5 Book  of  the  Dead,  chap.  17  superscription. 


GAME  PLAYED  on  A board.  Picture  of  the  time  of  the  Middle  Empire  at  Beni  Hasan 

(after  Wilk. , ii.  57). 


CHAPTER  XII 

RELIGION 

WERE  it  possible  to  describe  the  life  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  without 
touching  upon  a subject  of  such  moment  to  them  as  their  religion,  I would 
gladly  do  so,  for  it  is  not  possible  as  yet  to  give  a satisfactory  scientific 
account  of  the  faith  of  this  ancient  nation.  In  spite  of  the  enormous 
amount  of  material  that  we  possess  in  the  shape  of  religious  texts  and 
pictures,  our  knowledge  of  the  subject  is  still  very  elementary,  and  in  the 
following  sketch  much  must  still  be  considered  as  hypothetical.1  It  is 
most  probable  that  originally  the  whole  country  did  not  profess  a common 
religion.  It  is  true  that  there  are  certain  representations  which  con- 
tinually recur,  and  which  seem  common  to  all  parts  of  Egypt,  as  for 
instance,  that  of  Re‘,  the  sun-god,  passing  through  the  heavens  in  his 
bark,  or  of  heaven  as  a goddess  bending  over  the  earth,  but  these 
representations  have  little  to  do  with  religion  itself.  He  who  needed 
superhuman  help  turned  rather  to  a god  more  akin  to  himself,  the  god  of 
his  town.  Each  town,  and  indeed  each  village,  possessed  its  own 
particular  divinity,  adored  by  the  respective  inhabitants,  and  by  them 
alone.  Thus  the  later  town  of  Memphis  was  faithful  to  Ptah,  of  whom  they 
said,  that  as  a potter  on  his  wheel  he  had  turned  the  egg  from  which  the 
world  was  hatched.  The  god  Atum  was  the  “ town  god  ” of  Heliopolis  ; 
in  Chnum  we  find  Thoth,  in  Abydos  Osiris,  in  Thebes  Amon,  in  Hermon- 
this  Mont,  and  so  on.  The  goddess  Hathor  was  revered  in  Denderah, 
Bastet  in  the  town  later  called  Bubastis,  while  in  Sais  the  people  adored 
the  warlike  Neit,  who  was  probably  of  Libyan  origin.  The  names  of 
many  of  these  deities  show  them  to  be  purely  local  gods,  many  being 

1 I have,  as  a rule,  followed  the  views  of  Piltschmann  and  Ed.  Meyer. 


26o 


LIFE  IN  A ANIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


originally  called  after  the  towns,  as,  “ him  of  Ombos,”  “ him  of  Edfu,” 
“ her  of  Bast  ” ; they  are  really  merely  the  genii  of  the  towns.  Many  were 
supposed  to  show  themselves  to  their  worshippers  in  the  form  of  some 
object  in  which  they  dwelt,  eg.  the  god  of  the  town  Dedu  in  the  Delta 

(the  later  Busiris)  in  the  shape  of  the  wooden  pillar  jj . The  form 

chosen  was  generally  that  of  some  animal  : Ptah  manifested  himself  in 
the  Apis  bull,  Amon  in  the  ram,  Sobk  of  the  Feyum  in  a crocodile,  and  so 
on.  The  Egyptians  believed  that  each  place  was  inhabited  by  a great 
number  of  spirits,  and  that  the  lesser  ones  were  subject  to  the  chief  spirit  ; 
in  some  instances  they  formed  his  suite,  his  divine  cycle  ; sometimes  they 
were  considered  as  his  family,  thus  Amon  of  Thebes  had  the  goddess 
Mut  for  his  consort,  and  the  god  Chons  for  his  son. 

The  religious  conditions  described  above  exist  mutatis  mutandis  every- 
where amongst  nations  in  a low  state  of  development  ; with  the  progress 
of  Egyptian  civilisation  they  changed  in  many  essential  points.  As  the 
Egyptian  peasants  of  the  different  nomes  began  to  feel  that  they  belonged 
to  one  nation,  and  as  the  intercourse  increased  between  the  individual 
parts  of  this  long  country,  the  old  religion  gradually  lost  its  disconnected 
character.  It  was  natural  that  families  travelling  from  one  nome  to 
another  should  take  the  gods  they  had  hitherto  served  to  their  new 
homes,  and  that,  like  every  novelty,  these  divinities  should  win  prestige 
with  the  inhabitants.  It  is  conceivable  that  the  god  of  a particularly 
great  and  mighty  town  should  be  believed  to  exercise  a sort  of  patronage, 
either  politically  or  agriculturally,  over  that  part  of  the  country  dependent 
upon  that  centre.  When  any  god  had  attained  this  prominent  position, 
and  had  become  a great  god,  his  worship  would  spread  still  farther.  He  had 
more  opportunities  than  the  other  gods  of  giving  help  and  working  miracles, 
he  therefore  won  more  renown  than  they  did.  If  the  fame  of  a god  spread 
through  the  whole  country,  and  if  pilgrims  came  from  afar  to  his  sanctuary, 
still  greater  results  ensued.  The  worshippers  of  other  less  celebrated 
deities  then  discovered  that  their  divinity  was  really  the  same  as  the  more 
famous  god.  It  was  no  obstacle  that  the  names  were  utterly  different, 
eg.  in  far  distant  ages  the  worship  of  Osiris,  belonging  originally  to 
Abydos,  spread  over  the  whole  of  Egypt,  and  gods  as  distinct  from  him 
as  Sokar  of  Memphis  and  the  pillar  of  Dedu  were  identified  with  him. 

The  consequence  was  that  with  the  progress  of  civilisation  the  religion 
underwent  a process  of  simplification.  The  small  local  gods  shrank  into 
the  background  by  the  side  of  their  more  fortunate  colleagues,  who  tended 
more  and  more  to  merge  into  each  other.  Thus  the  cruel  Sechmet  and 
the  gracious  Bastet  were  almost  considered  as  special  forms  and  names 
of  the  more  famous  goddess  Idathor  ; and  in  later  times  we  may  also  add 
of  Mut  of  Thebes.  At  length  Hathor  herself  bad  to  suffer  identification 
with  Isis.  In  the  same  way,  as  the  reputation  of  the  sun-god  increased, 
other  gods  grew  more  like  him.  Few  Egyptian  gods  escaped  identifica- 
tion with  Re‘,  not  even  the  water  god  Sobk,  in  spite  of  his  crocodile  form. 


XII 


RELIGION 


261 


The  development  of  a common  mythology  advanced  hand  in  hand 
with  the  process  described  above.  At  the  period  when  each  individual 
place  revered  its  special  divinity,  the  respective  inhabitants  had  woven  for 
their  god  a history  of  special  actions  and  destinies  which  had  little  or  no 
connection  with  the  stories  of  the  divinities  worshipped  in  other  localities. 
When  however  the  local  cults  were  fused  into  a national  religion,  the 
legends  of  the  gods  were  united  to  form  a mythology  which,  in  its  most 
important  particulars,  became  the  common  property  of  the  nation. 

The  evolution  of  Egyptian  religion  described  above  took  place  in 
prehistoric  times.  In  the  oldest  records  we  possess,  the  so-called  pyramid 
texts,  the  development  was  complete,  and  the  religion  had  essentially  the 
same  character  as  in  all  after  ages.  We  find  a very  considerable  number 
of  divinities  of  each  rank,  the  greater  with  their  sanctuaries  in  various 
towns,  one  being  always  acknowledged  as  pre-eminent  ; individual  gods 
are  sometimes  expressly  distinguished  the  one  from  the  other,  sometimes 
considered  as  identical  ; we  find  a mythology  with  myths  which  are 
absolutely  irreconcilable  existing  peacefully  side  by  side  ; in  short,  an 
unparalleled  confusion.  This  chaos  was  never  afterwards  reduced  to 
order  ; on  the  contrary,  we  might  almost  say  that  the  confusion  became 
even  more  hopeless  during  the  3000  years  that,  according  to  the  pyramid 
texts,  the  Egyptian  religion  “ flourished.” 

Erom  century  to  century  progress  was  made,  at  any  rate  in  one  direction, 
viz.  in  the  amalgamation  of  the  divinities  to  one  type.  More  especially 
the  sun-god  Re‘  formed  a central  point  for  this  kind  of  union  ; Amon 
of  Thebes,  Horus  of  the  East,  Horus  of  Edfu,  Chnum  of  Elephantine, 
Atum  of  Heliopolis,  and  it  may  be  many  others,  were  considered  under 
the  New  Empire  as  one  god.  This  course  would  gradually  lead  to  the 
abolition  of  polytheism,  and  in  fact  this  tendency  is  very  apparent.  Thus, 
e.g.  in  the  phraseology  of  the  hymn  to  the  sun-god,  the  divine  amalgam,  com- 
posed of  Amon,  Re‘,  Harmachis,  Atum,  is  called  the  “only  god,  in  truth, 
the  living  one.”  At  the  same  time,  the  existence  of  the  various  sanctuaries 
proves  that  these  were  but  empty  phrases  ; as  long  as  Atum,  Chnum,  and 
Horus  still  possessed  their  individual  sanctuaries  and  priesthood,  the  fusion 
of  these  gods  could  not  be  complete,  notwithstanding  these  beautiful  words. 
Above  all,  the  priests  of  those  gods  naturally  withstood  these  anti-poly- 
theistic  theories  of  the  New  Empire,  especially  those  who,  being  the  richest, 
had  most  to  lose  by  them, — the  priests  of  Amon.  It  is  no  accident  that 
the  only  practical  attempt  that  we  know  of  in  this  direction  turned,  in 
the  time  of  momentary  triumph,  with  rage  against  Amon,  as  if  it  had 
experienced  most  resistance  from  that  god.  This  attempt  was  undertaken 
by  the  son  of  Amenhotep  III.,  the  last  king  of  any  importance  of  the 
eighteenth  dynasty,1  and  consisted  in  no  less  a change  than  the  substitu- 
tion of  all  the  gods  of  past  times  by  one  single  deity,  the  “ great  living 
sun-disk,”  or,  according  to  his  official  title,  “ the  sun  ruling  the  two 
horizons,  he  who  rejoices  in  the  horizon  in  his  name  : splendour  abiding 

1 Cp.  p.  45  ff. , though  there  may  be  much  to  change  in  this  conception  of  the  ancient  religion. 


262 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


in  the  sun-disk.”1  In  fact,  it  was  not  a sun-god  who  was  adored,  but  the 
material  sun  itself,  which,  by  the  hands  of  his  beams,  bestowed  upon  living 
beings  that  “ eternal  life  which  was  in  him.”  2 This  new  deity,  therefore,  did 
not  bear  the  name  of  any  of  the  old  sun-gods,  nor  is  he  called  simply  the 

sun , but  he  is  called  (j  ^ 0,  'etn,  the  sun-disk , a word  not  contaminated 

1 <wvw\ 

by  having  been  used  in  the  old  religion. 

It  is  probable  that  this  religious  revolution  was  borne  along  by  an 
undercurrent  of  support  in  the  nation,  or  at  least  in  the  educated  classes  ; 
finally  however  it  was  carried  out  by  the  zeal  of  a monarch.  King 
Amenhotep  IV.  (or  as  he  was  called  after  the  reformation,  Chuen’eten, 
splendour  of  the  sun-disk)  established  the  doctrine,  this  is  evidently  the 
official  term  for  the  new  religion,3  for  a number  of  years  as  the  state 
religion.  The  above  title,  referring  to  the  sun-disk,  shows  that  from  the 
first  the  new  faith  was  formulated  dogmatically  ; nevertheless,  we  can 
only  judge  of  this  teaching  by  the  hymns,4  in  which  adoration  is  paid  to 
“ the  living  sun-disk,  besides  whom  there  is  no  other.”  He  created  all 
things,  “ the  far-off  heavens,  mankind,  the  animals,  the  birds  ; our  eyes 
are  strengthened  by  his  beams,  and  when  he  shows  himself  all  flowers 
grow  and  live  ; at  his  rising  the  pastures  bring  forth,  they  are  intoxicated 
before  his  face,  all  the  cattle  skip  on  their  feet,  and  the  birds  in  the 
marshes  flutter  with  joy.”  It  is  he  “ who  brings  in  the  years,  creates  the 
months,  makes  the  days,  reckons  the  hours,  he  is  the  lord  of  time,  accord- 
ing to  whom  men  reckon.”  These  ideas  and  expressions  are  similar  to 
those  found  in  the  hymns  to  the  sun -god  in  the  older  religion  ; the 
innovation  brought  in  by  Chuen’eten  therefore  was  essentially  only  the 
idea  that  the  one  God,  “ the  God  living  in  truth,”  was  to  be  an  article  of 
real  faith,  and  no  longer  merely  a phrase. 

Yet,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  new  faith  was  founded  on  the  old 
teaching,  it  stood  really  in  absolute  opposition  to  the  latter.  The  fury  with 
which  the  reformer  persecuted  the  old  gods,  especially  the  Theban  god, 
finds  its  parallel  only  in  the  history  of  fanaticism.  The  name  and  figure 
of  Amon  were  erased  everywhere,  and  to  accomplish  this  act  of  vengeance 
against  the  god  whom  they  detested,  Chuen’eten’s  people  even  penetrated 
into  the  interior  of  the  private  tombs.  The  goddess  Mut,  the  consort  of 
Amon,  fared  no  better.  The  king  would  no  longer  live  in  the  town,  which 
had  been  the  residence  of  his  ancestors,  but  built  a new  town  in  Middle 
Egypt  to  be  the  seat  of  government  in  place  of  the  impure  Thebes.  He 
thought  it  necessary,  also,  to  change  his  name  of  Amenhotep,  because  the 
name  Amon  belonged  to  the  old  faith  ; he  also  decreed  a change  of 
orthography  in  order  to  remove  a sign,  to  which  there  was  the  same 

objection.  The  word  maut  (mother)  had  hitherto  been  written  lt: 

1 In  two  variations  which  may  correspond  perhaps  to  changes  in  dogma. 

2 L.  D. , iii.  106  b. 

3 L.  D.,  iii.  97  e,  107  a,  d. 

4 The  following  is  from  the  hymns  : I..  D.,  iii.  97  a and  106  b.  Similarly,  98  a and  107  b. 


XII 


RELIGION 


263 


was  now  changed  to  because,  in  the  old  fashion  of  spelling,  the 

word  signified  also  the  name  of  the  goddess  Mut. 

It  is  evident  that  a reformer  who  went  so  rashly  to  work  as  to  try 
to  set  aside  the  whole  history  of  a people  with  one  stroke,  could  create 
nothing  permanent.  The  results  of  the  work  of  Chuen’eten  were  ruined 
after  a few  years,  and  in  the  reaction  his  buildings  were  razed  to  the  ground. 
The  old  faith  was  re-established  unchanged,  and  there  was  never  any  more 
question  of  the  doctrine  of  the  heretic.  The  result  of  this  episode  was  the 
same  as  that  produced  by  all  reformations  that  fail  ; the  victorious  old  faith 
grew  still  more  rigid  against  every  innovation  than  it  had  ever  been  before. 
After  the  eighteenth  dynasty  the  Egyptian  religion  became,  if  possible, 
more  confused  and  more  lifeless  than  ever  ; this  was  certainly  partly  due 
to  the  victory  obtained  by  the  priests  of  Amon  over  the  king,  who  perpet- 
rated the  crime  of  thinking  that  their  religion  was  not  the  height  of 
perfection. 

The  reader  must  not  expect  that  in  a sketch  of  Egyptian  religion  I 
should  give  special  details  about  the  individual  gods  and  their  actions. 
In  the  first  place,  a discourse  on  this  subject  has  little  concern  with 
Egyptian  life,  theological  details  would  lead  us  far  from  our  subject,  and 
moreover,  an  exact  description  of  the  Egyptian  pantheon  consists  of  little 
more  than  an  empty  list  of  the  names  of  gods  and  temples.  Most  of  the 
Egyptian  gods  appear  to  us  as  lifeless,  characterless  figures.  They  have 
their  appointed  names,  they  also  bear  some  fixed  epithet,  such  as  “ father 
of  the  gods,”  “ king  of  the  gods,”  “ of  beautiful  countenance  ” ; in  their 
pictures  they  are  distinguished  from  mankind  by  a special  dress  1 and  a 
special  beard  ;2  and  they  are  distinguished  from  each  other  by  certain  animal 
heads,  crowns,  and  attributes.  This  is  all  however,  and  those  who  expect 
to  find  living  beings  like  the  Greek  gods  will  be  much  disappointed  with 
these  meaningless  puppets  of  gods. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  we  should  be  very  unjust  to  the  Egyptians 
if  we  thought  that  their  deities  were,  to  their  minds,  the  mere  shadows 
that  they  appear  to  us  in  the  inscriptions.  Like  the  Greeks,  the 
Egyptians  allowed  their  imagination  to  weave  all  manner  of  legends 
round  the  gods,  and  to  remodel  their  shapeless  great  genii  into  beings, 
acting  and  feeling  as  human  beings  of  decided  character.  There  was  also 
a system  of  mythology  connected  with  the  Egyptian  gods,  and  if  we  now 
know  little  of  the  stories  of  these  divinities,  and  are  obliged  to  content 
ourselves  with  their  names  and  representations,  it  is  owing  merely  to  the 
fact  that  the  texts  omit  to  inform  us  about  these  myths.  The  religious 
writings  refer  continually  to  mythological  events,  they  call  Isis  the  “ lady 
of  the  marshes,”  and  Horus  the  “ avenger  of  his  father,”  or  they  make 
mention  of  a “certain  day  when  the  words  are  to  be  offered  up  at  Helio- 
polis,” but  very  few  texts  tell  us  anything  further  about  these  matters. 

1 The  dress  resembles  the  short  ancient  underdress  of  women.  The  representations  of  the  gods 
were  all  determined  under  the  Old  Empire  : cp.  L.  D.,  ii.  2 c,  1 1 5 e.  2 See  p.  226. 


264 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Originally,  the  compilers  of  these  religious  texts  were  evidently  content 
to  give  these  allusions  only,  because  the  myths  were  so  well  known  that 
a mere  reference  to  them  was  sufficient.  In  later  times  there  were  other 
reasons  for  this  reticence  ; the  old  books  containing  these  myths  were 
considered  too  sacred  to  be  placed  where  profane  eyes  might  see  them, 
in  the  tomb  chapels  or  in  the  temple  halls;  even  the  gods  themselves  were 
supposed  to  wash  seven  times  before  reading  the  words  of  these  sacred 
books.1  At  this  later  period  also,  even  the  representations  of  these 
myths  at  the  temple  festivals  were  considered  2 as  a great  secret,  and  the 
reader  will  remember  how  conscientiously  and  carefully  Herodotos  avoids 


THE  GOD  ATUM  OF  HELIOPOLIS  THE  GOD  MONT  OF  HERMONTHIS 
(with  human  head  and  double  (with  hawk’s  head,  sun-disk, 

crown).  and  feathers). 


THE  GOD  SOBK  OF  THE  FEYUM 
(with  crocodile  head,  horns, 
sun-disk,  and  feathers). 


relating  what  he  had  learnt  concerning  the  mythological  reasons  for  the 
strange  festival  customs  on  these  occasions. 

The  mythological  tales  which,  in  spite  of  the  hazards  of  fortune,  have 
come  down  to  us,  are  very  few  in  comparison  with  the  multitude  which 
must  formerly  have  existed,  and,  unfortunately,  the  fragments  which 
remain  3 are  of  different  periods,  and  belong  to  writings  of  very  various 
character.  Nevertheless,  the  following  brief  account  is  given  here,  in 
order  that  the  reader  may  obtain  some  idea  of  ancient  Egyptian  myths, 
in  default  of  better  sources  of  information. 

In  the  primaeval  ages  of  the  world,  the  sun-god  Re‘  appeared  on  the 

1 Destruction  des  homines,  1.  78. 

2 Under  the  eighteenth  dynasty  this  was  evidently  not  the  case,  for,  as  we  shall  see  below,  we 
find  the  representation  of  one  of  these  festivals  in  a Theban  tomb. 

3 A collection  from  Egyptian  and  Greek  sources  of  these  fragments  of  myths,  many  of  which  are 
contained  in  the  Sail,  iv.,  and  in  magical  formulae,  is  one  of  the  first  requisites  needed  for  the  study 
of  Egyptian  religion.  Before  this  is  compiled,  all  speculations  respecting  the  Egyptian  gods  are 
of  little  use. 


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265 


dark  ocean  of  the  god  Nun,  and  undertook  the  government  of  the  world. 
This  did  not  happen  without  a struggle ; finally  however  the  victor}-  remained 
with  Re‘,  and  the  “ children  of  the  rebels  ” were  delivered  up  to  him  on 
the  terrace  of  the  town  Chmunu.1  He  now  reigned  in  peace  as  king  of 
men  and  gods,”  ' and  as  long  as  he  was  in  full  possession  of  his  powers, 
no  one  attacked  his  government.  But  his  youth  was  not  eternal;  his  limbs 
became  stiff  with  old  age,  his  bones  changed  to  silver,  his  flesh  to  gold, 
his  hair  to  real  lapis-lazuli.3  Then  happened  what  happens  also  to  earthly 
kings  when  they  grow  old  : his  subjects  became  rebellious,  more  especially 
the  wise  goddess  Isis,4  who  was  wiser  than  all  men,  than  all  gods  and 
spirits.  She  knew  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth  as  well  as  Re‘  himself, 
but  there  was  one  thing  which  she  did  not  know — and  this  want  of 
knowledge  impaired  her  power — the  secret  name  of  Re‘.  For  this  god 
“ of  the  many  names  ” kept  his  special  name  secret,  the  name  on  which 
his  power  was  founded,  the  name  which  bestowed  magical  might  on  those 
who  knew  it.  As  Isis  could  in  no  way  learn  this  secret  name,  she  had 
recourse  to  the  stratagem  related  in  the  following  lines  : 

“ The  age  of  the  god  stirred  in  his  mouth, 

And  caused  him  to  spit  on  the  earth, 

And  what  he  spat  fell  on  the  ground. 

Isis  then  kneaded  it  with  her  hand 
Together  with  the  earth  which  was  there  ; 

She  formed  a noble  worm  with  it 
And  made  it  like  a spear. 

She  did  not  put  it  living  about  her  face,5 

But  threw  it  down  rolled  together  (?)  on  the  path, 

On  which  the  great  god  was  wont  to  walk 
At  his  pleasure  through  his  two  countries. 

The  noble  god  stepped  forth  in  his  splendour, 

The  gods,  those  who  serve  the  Pharaoh,  accompanied  him, 

And  he  walked  as  he  did  each  day. 

Then  the  noble  worm  stung  him  . . . 

The  divine  god  opened  his  mouth 

And  the  voice  of  his  majesty  reached  unto  heaven. 

His  cycle  of  gods  cried,  ‘ What  is  it  ? what  is  it  ?’ 

And  the  gods  cried,  ‘ Behold  ! behold  ! ’ 

He  could  not  answer  them, 

His  jaw  bones  chattered, 

All  his  limbs  trembled 

And  the  poison  invaded  his  flesh, 

As  the  Nile  invades  her  territory  (?). 

When  the  great  god  had  calmed  his  heart, 

He  cried  out  to  his  followers  : 

‘ Come  to  me,  you,  the  offspring  of  my  body, 

You  gods,  who  were  formed  from  me, 


1 Book  of  the  Dead,  17,  5 ed.,  N'av.  2 Destruction  des  hommes,  1.  1 ; Turin,  131,  13. 

3 Destruction  des  homines,  1.  2. 

4 For  all  that  follows  see  Turin,  131  flf.,  77,  31.  Cp.  concerning  this  text  the  work  of  Lefebure, 
A.  Z. . 1883,  27  ft.,  who  first  acknowledged  its  importance  and  made  a good  translation  of  it. 

0 A play  on  the  uraeus  snake,  which  rears  itself  above  the  face  of  the  sun-god. 


266 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


That  Chepr’e  may  tell  it  to  you  : 

Something  malignant  has  attacked  me, 

My  heart  knows  it,  mine  eyes  see  it  not, 

My  hand  did  it  not, 

I know  not  who  (?)  has  done  this. 

I have  never  felt  pain  approaching  unto  it, 

There  is  no  illness  v'orse  than  this.’ 

‘ I am  a prince  and  the  son  of  a prince, 

The  divine  progeny  of  a god. 

I am  great  and  the  son  of  a great  one. 

My  father  devised  my  name. 

I am  he  of  many  names  and  of  many  forms, 

And  my  form  is  in  every  god.  . . . 

My  father  and  my  mother  told  me  my  name, 

And  it  has  remained  hidden  in  my  heart  since  my  birth, 

So  that  magical  pow'er  should  not  be  given  to  a magician  against  me. 
I had  gone  out  to  look  at  that  which  I had  created 
I w-as  walking  through  the  tw'o  countries  which  I had  created  ; 

Then  something  stung  me,  what  I know  not. 

It  is  not  fire, 

It  is  not  water, 

My  heart  is  full  of  heat, 

My  body  trembles 
And  all  my  limbs  quake.’ 

‘ Now',  then,  bring  me  the  divine  children, 

Those  w'ho  speak  wisely 
With  an  understanding  tongue, 

Whose  power  (?)  reacheth  to  the  heavens.’ 

Then  the  divine  children  came  to  him, 

Each  of  them  full  of  grief ; 

There  came  also  Isis  with  her  wisdom, 

Whose  mouth  is  full  of  the  breath  of  life, 

Whose  decree  banishes  pain, 

And  w'hose  w'ord  gives  life  to  those  who  no  longer  breathe. 

She  said,  ‘ What  is  it  ? what  is  it,  divine  father  ? 

Behold  ! a worm  has  done  thee  this  wrong, 

One  of  thy  children  has  raised  his  head  against  thee. 

Therefore,  he  shall  fall  by  means  of  an  excellent  magic, 

I will  cause  him  to  yield  at  the  sight  of  thy  rays.’ 

The  splendid  God  opened  his  mouth  : 

‘ I w'as  walking  upon  my  w'ay 

And  traversing  the  two  countries  and  the  foreign  lands, 

For  my  heart  w'ould  look  upon  that  which  I had  created. 

Then  was  I bitten  by  a worm  which  I did  not  see. 

It  is  not  fire, 

It  is  not  water, 

And  I am  colder  than  water, 

And  I am  hotter  than  fire. 

All  my  limbs  perspire  greatly, 

I tremble,  mine  eye  is  not  steady, 

And  I do  not  see  the  sky. 

Water  streams  down  my  face  as  in  the  time  of  summer.’ 

Then  spoke  Isis  to  Re‘ : 

‘ Tell  me  thy  name,  divine  father, 


XII 


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267 


For  that  man  lives  who  is  called  by  his  name.’ 

‘ I am  he  who  created  heaven  and  earth,  and  piled  up  the  mountains, 

Who  made  all  living  creatures. 

I am  he  who  made  the  water  and  created  the  great  river, 

Who  made  the  Bull  of  his  mother , 

Who  begets  all. 

I am  he  who  created  the  heavens  and  the  secret  of  the  horizon, 

And  I have  placed  there  the  souls  of  the  gods. 

I am  he,  who  when  he  opens  his  eyes,  it  becomes  light, 

When  he  closes  his  eyes,  it  becomes  dark  ; 

The  water  of  the  Nile  flows  when  he  commands, 

But  the  gods  know  not  his  name. 

I am  he  who  makes  the  hours  and  creates  the  days. 

I am  he  who  begins  the  year  and  creates  the  inundation. 

I am  he  who  made  the  living  fire  . . . 

I am  Chepr’e  of  the  morning  and  Re‘  at  mid-day 
And  Atum  at  evening  time.’ 

The  poison  did  not  yield,  it  went  farther, 

The  health  of  the  great  god  began  to  decline. 

Then  spoke  Isis  to  Re‘ : 

‘ That  is  not  thy  name  that  thou  tellest  me. 

Tell  it  to  me  that  the  poison  may  go  out, 

For  the  man  who  is  called  by  his  name  lives.’ 

The  poison,  however,  burnt  like  a furnace, 

It  was  stronger  than  flame  or  fire.” 

Then  Re‘  could  no  longer  withstand  the  torment  ; he  told  Isis  his 
name  and  regained  his  health  through  her  magic  power.  Nevertheless, 
even  after  he  was  healed,  the  strong  rule  of  the  old  sun-god  had  lost  its 
vigour,  and  even  mankind  became  hostile  against  him  ; they  became 
angry  and  began  a rebellion.  The  measures  which  Re‘  took  against  this 
danger  are  related  in  another  very  ancient  book.1 

“ His  majesty  spake  to  those  who  were  his  followers  : ‘ Call  to  me 
my  Eye  (f.e.  the  goddess  Hathor),  Shu  and  Tefnut,  Qeb  and  Mut,  together 
with  the  divine  fathers  and  mothers,  who  were  with  me  when  I was  still 
in  the  ocean,  and  call  to  me  also  Nun  (f.e.  the  god  of  this  primaeval  ocean). 
Let  him  bring  his  courtiers  with  him,  let  him  bring  them  softly  (?),  so  that 
mankind  shall  not  see  and  escape  (?),  he  shall  come  with  them  to  my 
great  palace,  in  order  that  they  may  give  me  their  excellent  counsel.’  . . . 
Then  these  gods  were  conducted  thither,  and  these  gods  threw  themselves 
down  on  both  sides  of  his  majesty  and  touched  the  ground  with  their 
faces,  that  he  might  tell  his  desire  before  the  father  of  the  most  ancient 
gods,  who  made  man,  and  who  created  wisdom. 

“ Then  they  spake  before  his  majesty  : ‘ Speak  to  us  that  we  may  hear.’ 
Then  spake  Re‘  to  Nun  : ‘ Oh,  thou  most  ancient  god  ! from  whom  I 
was  begotten,  and  you,  the  ancestors  of  the  gods  ! behold  the  men  who 
were  begotten  from  mine  eye,  they  plot  (evil)  against  me.  Tell  me  what 
you  would  do  against  them,  for  I will  not  slay  them  till  I have  heard 
what  you  shall  say  about  it.’ 

1 Destruction  des  hommes. 


268 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


“ Then  spake  the  majesty  of  Nun  : ‘ Oh,  my  son  Re‘,  thou  god  who  art 
greater  than  he  who  made  him,  and  than  those  who  created  him  ! re- 
main seated  on  thy  throne,  for  the  fear  of  thee  will  be  great,  if  thou  dost 
(but)  turn  thine  eye  upon  those  who  have  conspired  against  thee.’  Then 
answered  the  majesty  of  Re‘  : ‘ Behold,  they  have  fled  to  the  mountains, 
for  their  heart  is  full  of  fear,  because  of  what  I have  said  to  them.’  Then 
they  spake  before  his  majesty  : ‘ Shoot  forth  thine  Eye,  that  it  may  slay 
the  evil  conspirators.  . . . Let  the  goddess  Hathor  descend,  and  when 
that  goddess  shall  arrive,  then  shall  she  slay  the  men  on  the  mountains.’ 

Then  spake  the  majesty  of  this 
god  : ‘ Go  in  peace,  Hathor.’  . . . 
Then  spake  this  goddess  : ‘ By 
thy  life  ! it  shall  be  good  for  me 
when  I subject  mankind  ’ ; but 
the  majesty  of  Re‘  said  : ‘ I will 
subject  them  (and)  slay  them.’  ” 
This  last  speech  of  the  god 
was  especially  important  in  Egyp- 
tian theology,  for,  as  the  sacred 
book  informs  us,  because  Re‘ 
spoke  to  the  goddess  of  “ subject- 
ing” ( sochm ) them,  therefore  the 
latter  bore  from  that  time  the 
additional  name  of  Scchmet.  This 
goddess,  Sechmet,  is  well  known 
to  us  as  the  lion-headed  goddess 
THE  goddess  sechmet  : befoke  her  stands  Qf  war,  who  is  so  often  represented 

RAMSES  II.,  WHO  IS  OFFERING  HER  FLOWERS.  . 

as  angry  and  as  wading  in  blood. 

In  the  night  therefore  Hathor  descended  to  the  earth  and  began  to 
make  a terrible  massacre  of  those  sinful  men,  those  even  who  were  flying 
up  stream  into  the  mountains  being  included  in  it.  She  was  so  terrible 
in  her  fury  that  the  whole  town  of  Chenensuten  ran  with  blood.  Then 
Re‘  determined  to  stop  the  massacre,  and  save  at  any  rate  a part  of  man- 
kind. The  means  he  employed  however  to  stop  his  terrible  messenger 
in  the  continuance  of  the  slaughter  were  rather  strange.  “ Call  now  to  me 
swift  messengers,”  he  said,  “ that  I may  send  them  forth  (as)  the  shadow 
of  a body.”  They  brought  him  these  messengers  immediately,  and  his 
majesty  the  god  spake  : “Hasten  to  the  island  of  Elephantine,  and  bring  me 
much  dada  fruit.”  They  brought  him  this  dada  fruit  and  he  gave  it  to  the 
god  Sektet,  who  is  in  Heliopolis,  to  grind.  When  the  slaves  had  crushed 
some  barley  to  make  beer,  they  put  this  dada  fruit  in  the  mixing  jar  together 
with  the  blood  of  men,  and  they  thus  made  ready  7000  jugs  of  beer. 

When  now  his  majesty,  the  King  of  Upper  Egypt  and  King  of 
Lower  Egypt  Re‘,  came  together  with  those  gods,  in  order  to  inspect  this 
beer,  as  day  dawned  behold  this  goddess  had  slaughtered  the  men  as 
they  passed  up  stream.  Then  spake  His  Majesty  Re‘  : “ How  good  that 


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269 


is  ; I will  protect  mankind  from  her.”  Then  spake  Re‘,  “ Bring  hither 
the  beer  to  the  place  where  she  is  slaying  mankind.”  Thus  it  happened, 
in  the  twilight,  the  jugs  of  beer  were  poured  out  so  that  they  overflowed 
the  fields.  The  result  of  this  was  curious.  “When  this  goddess  came 
thither  in  the  morning,  she  found  these  fields  inundated,  and  her  face  (was 
mirrored)  beautifully  therein.  She  then  drank  thereof  and  was  satisfied  ; 
she  went  about  drunk  and  recognised  mankind  no  longer.”1 

Thus  Re‘  saved  a remnant  of  mankind  from  the  bloodthirsty,  terrible 


FIGURE  OF  THE  COW  OF  HEAVEN,  BORNE  BY  THE  GOD  SHU,  AND  SUPPORTED  BY  OTHER  GENII. 

On  her  body,  which  is  adorned  with  stars,  the  bark  of  the  sun  voyages  twice.  It  is  exactly  described  in 
this  illustration  how  the  latter  amplifies  the  sacred  book  spoken  of  above  ; explanatory  marginal 
writings  are  also  given,  and  indeed  with  the  express  statement  as  to  whether  they  were  to  be  turned 
towards  the  right  or  towards  the  left  (in  shat'). 

Hathor,  but  he  himself  had  no  pleasure  in  his  victory  ; “ his  heart  was 
weary  of  being  with  them,”  and  he  withdrew  to  rest  on  the  back  of  the 
cow  of  heaven,  after  he  had  named  Thoth,  the  god  of  wisdom,  as  his 
deputy  upon  earth.  Before  however  he  left  this  world,  he  called  the 
earth-god  Qeb,  and  enjoined  upon  him  to  be  extremely  careful  as  to  snakes 
and  worms,  for  he  could  not  forget  how  much  harm  had  come  to  him 
through  a worm. 

Still  more  popular  than  even  these  stories  of  the  sun-god,  was  the 
myth  of  Osiris  and  of  his  wicked  brother  Set,  the  Greek  Typhon.2  Qeb 
the  earth-god  and  Nut  the  goddess  of  heaven  had  four  children,  the  gods 

1 Another  version  of  this  legend  causes  wine  instead  of  beer  to  be  made  out  of  “the  blood  of 
those  who  formerly  fought  against  the  gods.”  Cp.  Plutarch,  De  Iside  (ed.  Parthey),  6. 

- All  that  follows,  when  not  otherwise  stated,  is  according  to  Plutarch,  De  Iside,  13  ff. 


270 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Osiris  and  Set,  and  the  goddesses  Isis  and  Nephthys.  Osiris  was  the 
husband  of  Isis,  and  Set  of  Nephthys ; to  the  former  was  given  the 
government  of  the  earth.  His  rule  was  full  of  blessing  for  mankind,  for 
he  taught  the  inhabitants  of  Egypt  to  till  the  ground,  and  gave  them 
laws.  But  the  evil  Set  laid  wait  for  him  and  devised  a conspiracy  : “ he 
secretly  took  the  measure  of  Osiris’  body,  and  accordingly  prepared  a 
beautiful,  richly-adorned  chest,  which  he  brought  in  at  the  feast.  When 
all  had  rejoiced  at  the  sight  of  its  beauty,  Typhon  promised  jestingly  to 
give  the  chest  as  a present  to  the  one  who  would  exactly  fill  it  when  lying 
in  it.  All  tried  it,  but  it  would  fit  no  one,  till  at  last  Osiris  got  into  it 
and  lay  down.  The  conspirators  then  hastened  to  throw  the  cover  over 
it,  closed  the  chest  on  the  outside  with  nails,  poured  hot  lead  over  it, 
carried  it  out  to  the  river  and  sent  it  by  the  Tanitic  mouth  to  the  sea.” 
Thus  Osiris  died  : his  consort  Isis  however  followed  the  advice  of  the  god 
of  wisdom  and  fled  into  the  swamps  of  the  Delta.  Seven  scorpions  escorted 
her  flight.  Wearied  out,  she  came  one  evening  to  a house  of  women,  but 
the  mistress  was  frightened  by  the  escort  of  the  goddess  and  closed  her 
door  to  the  homeless  one.  The  scorpion  Tefen  then  crept  under  the  door 
and  stung  the  child  of  the  mistress.  But  when  Isis  heard  the  grief  of  the 
mother  her  anger  melted  away  ; she  laid  her  hand  on  the  child  and  gave 
it  new  life.  Afterwards,  when  in  the  swamps,  Isis  herself  gave  birth  to  a 
son,  Horus,  whom  Buto  ( Ud'ot ),  the  goddess  of  the  North,  successfully 
hid  from  the  vengeance  of  Set.  Buto  could  not  however  guard  him  from 
every  mischance,  and  once  when  Isis  came  to  his  hiding-place  she  found 
him  lying  lifeless  on  the  ground, — a scorpion  had  stung  him.  Then  Isis 
prayed  for  help  to  the  sun-god  Re‘,  and  he  caused  the  sun-bark  to  stop 
and  sent  down  Thoth  the  god  of  wisdom,  who  gave  the  child  new  life.1 

Whilst  Horus  thus  grew  up  in  the  marshes,  Isis  wandered  through 
the  world  seeking  the  chest  with  the  body  of  Osiris  ; she  was  accompanied 
and  protected  by  the  jackal-headed  god  Anubis,  the  bastard  son  of  Osiris 
and  Nephthys.  At  last  she  found  what  she  sought.  The  waves  of  the 
sea  had  washed  up  the  chest  on  the  Phoenician  coast  at  Byblos,  and  a 
tree,  near  which  the  chest  was  stranded,  grew  up  so  quickly  that  it  quite 
enclosed  it.  The  king  of  the  country  however,  admiring  the  great  tree, 
caused  it  to  be  felled,  and  placed  it  under  his  house  as  a pillar  with  the 
hidden  coffin  inside  it.  There  Isis,  who  had  entered  the  service  of  that 
king  as  nurse,  found  it  ; she  revealed  herself  as  goddess,  and  drew  out  the 
coffin  from  the  pillar.  She  brought  it  by  ship  to  Egypt,  where  she  wept 
in  solitude  over  the  body  of  her  husband  ; then  she  hid  the  coffin,  and 
went  to  the  sacred  town  of  Buto  to  see  after  her  son.  But  when  hunting 
by  moonlight  Set  found  the  hidden  coffin,  and  wreaked  his  anger  on  the 
corpse  of  his  adversary  ; he  tore  it  to  pieces,  and  these  he  scattered  to 
the  winds.  Then  Isis  went  through  the  marshes  in  a bark  seeking  the 
different  limbs  of  her  husband.  Wherever  she  found  one  she  buried  it, 

1 The  two  last  incidents  are  not  from  Plutarch,  but  from  an  Egyptian  source,  edited  by  Brugsch, 
A.  Z.,  1879,  1 ff. 


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271 


and  men  revered  each  of  those  spots  as  the  grave  of  their  benefactor 
Osiris,  eg.  the  town  of  Busiris  in  the  Delta,  the  burial-place  of  his  backbone, 
and  Abydos  where  his  head  rested  in  a small  chest.  When  Horus  had 
grown  up  to  be  a young  man,  he  left  his  hiding-place  in  Buto  in  order 
to  avenge  the  death  of  his  father.  He  had  to  encounter  a terrible  fight 
with  Set,  in  which  one  of  Horus’  eyes  was  torn  out  and  Set  suffered  a 


KING  SETY  I.  OFFERS  WINE  BEFORE  OSIRIS,  ‘‘TO  THE  CHIEF  GOD  OF  THE  WEST  (i.E.  OF  THE 
KINGDOM  OF  THE  DEAD),  THE  GREAT  GOD,  THE  LORD  OF  ABYDOS,  UENNOFRE,  THE  LORD 
OF  ETERNITY,  THE  RULER  OF  ETERNITY." 

Behind  Osiris  are  “ the  Great  Isis,  the  divine  mother,1'  and  “ Horus  the  son  of  Isis  and  of  Osiris." 


yet  worse  mutilation  ; finally  Thoth  separated  the  combatants  and  healed 
their  wounds.1  Set  however  was  vanquished,  and  he  acknowledged  as 
the  new  monarch  Horus,  who  now  assumed  the  sacred  Atef  crown  and 
ascended  the  throne  of  his  forefather  the  god  Qeb.  Horus  thus  became 
king  of  men  ; his  father  however  from  this  time  ruled  over  the  deceased 
in  the  kingdom  of  the  dead,  as  “ King  of  eternity.”  Osiris  died  in  truth, 
and  the  other  members  of  his  divine  family  have  also  died  since  ; their 
souls  alone  still  live  as  the  stars  in  the  sky  ; that  of  Isis  as  the  dog-star, 
that  of  Horus  as  Orion.2  The  soul  of  Osiris  however  dwells  in  the 
bird  Benu,  the  phoenix  of  the  Greeks,  which  we  see  in  our  illustration, 
perched  on  the  branches  of  the  sacred  tree  above  the  coffin  of  Osiris. 

1 E.g.  this  is  mentioned  in  the  Book  of  the  Dead,  17,  30  ff. 

2 Plutarch,  De  Iside,  21.  This  is  also  contained  in  the  pyramid  texts,  in  which  the  soul  of  man- 
kind is  represented  as  a third  star,  travelling  through  the  sky  with  the  dog-star  and  Orion. 


272 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Other  legends  also  treat  of  the  fight  between  Horus  and  Set  ; legends 
which  originally  can  have  had  nothing  in  common  with  that  related  above. 
In  one  we  read  that  Set  and  Horus  were  two  brothers,  who  formerly 
divided  Egypt  between  them  ; another  relates  that  Horus  took  the  form  of 
a great  sun-disk  with  coloured  wings,  and  after  a long  conflict  with  his 

adversary  Set  and  his  followers, 
he  gained  the  victory  near  the 
town  of  Edfu.  Therefore  the 
winged  sun-disk  was  placed  over 
all  the  doors  into  the  temples, 
that  the  image  of  Horus  might 
drive  away  all  unclean  spirits 
from  the  sacred  building  ; this 
decoration  so  constantly  carved 
over  the  temple  entrances  maybe 
seen  at  the  head  of  this  chapter. 

The  above  contains  essen- 
tially all  that  we  know  of  Egyp- 
tian mythology.  The  gods 
mentioned  in  these  legends,  Re‘, 
Osiris,  Isis,  Horus,  Set,  have 
become  nearly  as  real  to  us  as 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Greek 
Olympus  ; but  the  immense  number  of  the  Egyptian  gods,  known  to  us 
only  in  their  theological  literature  or  temple  pictures,  remain,  as  I said 
before,  entirely  shadowy  personages.  If,  for  instance,  we  were  to  put 
together  everything  that  is  related  in  the  texts  of  Ptah  and  Amon,  the 
great  gods  of  Thebes  and  Memphis,  we  should  still  know  but  very  little  of 
either;  for  though,  like  the  other  gods,  they  must  once  have  also  possessed 
myths,  yet  the  texts  contain  scarcely  a word  concerning  them.  Finally, 
it  is  entirely  erroneous  to  maintain  that  the  Egyptian  divinities  were 
merely  abstract  phantoms,  such  as  they  seem  to  us  ; we  only  know  too 
little  of  them.  For  centuries  the  great  sun-god  Re‘  appeared  just  as 
colourless  as  all  the  other  divinities,  until  by  happy  chance,  two  long 
fragments  of  his  myth  were  brought  to  light,  and  he  became  the  charac- 
teristic figure  which  we  now  recognise. 

The  worshippers  of  these  gods  were  always  faithful  to  them,  and  each 
individual  strove  to  stand  well,  if  not  with  all  the  gods,  at  any  rate  with 
the  god  of  his  home.  He  brought  the  first  fruits  of  his  harvest  to  the 
servants  of  the  god  ; 1 he  avoided  what  the  god  hated,  and  took  care  of 
the  animal  beloved  by  the  divinity  ; and  in  order  that  “ the  god  should  not 
be  angry  with  him,  he  solemnised  the  feast  of  his  god  and  repeated  his 
festivals”;’2  he  made  the  furthermost  room  of  his  house  into  a little  chapel,3 


AFTER  WILK.,  III.  349,  FROM  A TOMB  TO  HAU. 
The  tree  is  perhaps  the  Abaton  of  the  tomb  of  Osiris, 
of  which  Plutarch  speaks,  de  Iside,  20.  Over  the 
bird  is  written  “Soul  of  Osiris.” 


1 Thus  at  Siut  under  the  M.  E.  Cp.  A.  Z. , 1882,  169,  180. 

2 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  p.  I.  3 Tap.  de  Bout,  i.  16,  3. 


XII 


RELIGION 


273 


and  placed  there  a little  image  of  the  god  ; he  put  his  offering  on  the  stone 
table  of  offerings,  and  he  recited  daily  his  “adoration”  before  him.  In 
the  court  of  his  granary,1  or  near  his  winepress,2  he  erected  a little 
sanctuary  to  Renenutet,  the  goddess  of  the  harvest,  and  placed  there  a 
table  of  offerings  with  wine  and  flowers.  This  was  not  a mere  show  of 
piety,  at  any  rate  not  with  those  who  were  serious-minded,  for  one  of  their 
wise  men  taught  : “ the  sanctuary  of  the  god — clamour  is  an  abomination 
to  him.  Pray  for  thyself,  with  a loving  heart,  in  which  the  words  remain 
hidden  ; that  he  may  supply  thy  need,  hear  thy  words  and  accept  thy 
offering.”  3 These  and  other  evidences  of  private  piety  are  however  quite 
eclipsed  by  the  pious  offerings  of  the  state. 

The  activity  of  the  state,  or  to  express  ourselves  in  an  Egyptian 
manner,  that  of  the  king  for  the  gods,  was  so  excessive,  particularly 
under  the  New  Empire,  that  the  state  must  be  regarded  as  really 
maintaining  the  religion  of  the  country.  The  state  and  the  priest- 
hood are  alone  responsible  for  its  prosperity,  and  in  this  matter  the 
people  are  but  the  fifth  wheel  to  the  coach.  The  king  builds  the 
temple  ; the  king  bestows  treasure,  the  long  lists  of  offerings  are  said  to 
be  royal  gifts  ; scarcely  anything  worth  mentioning  comes  from  private 
individuals.  In  the  same  way,  it  is  the  king  who  is  always  represented 
in  the  temple,  and  it  is  the  king  for  whom  prayers  are  offered  in  the 
temple.  No  mention  is  made  of  the  pious  worshippers.  The  temple 
services  appear  to  have  been  of  a strictly  official  character  ; it  is  quite 
conceivable  indeed  that  they  never  rose  to  a higher  standard. 

The  daily  acts  of  worship  performed  by  the  priest  du  jour 4 are  known 
from  several  contemporary  sources3  to  have  been  essentially  the  same  in 
the  case  of  the  various  gods.  Whether  it  were  Amon  or  Isis,  Ptah  or 
the  deceased  to  whom  divine  honours  were  to  be  paid,6  we  always  find 
that  fresh  rouge  and  fresh  robes  were  placed  upon  the  divine  statue,  and 
that  the  sacred  chapel  in  which  it  was  kept  was  cleansed  and  filled  with 
perfume.  The  god  was  regarded  as  a human  being,  whose  dwelling  had 
to  be  cleansed,  and  who  was  assisted  at  his  toilet  by  his  servants. 

These  ceremonies  doubtless  differed  both  in  detail  and  extent  at  the 
various  sanctuaries  ; eg.  the  priest  at  Thebes  had  about  sixty  ceremonies 
to  perform,  whilst  at  Abydos  thirty-six  were  found  to  be  sufficient.  The 
form  and  object  of  the  worship  however  were  always  the  same,  though 
the  details  might  vary.  As  a general  rule  also,  the  priest  had  to  recite 
an  appointed  formula  at  each  separate  ceremony. 

At  Abydos,'  the  priest  first  offered  incense  in  the  hypostyle  hall, 
saying  : “ I come  into  thy  presence,  O great  one,  after  I have  purified 

1 Wilk.,  i.  348.  2 See  the  illustration,  p.  198.  3 Pap.  de  Boul.,  i.  17,  1 ff. 

4 Cp.  for  this  definition  of  the  title  of  the  ritual  of  Amon,  Pap.  Berlin,  55. 

5 Lemm’s  Ritual  of  the  Theban  gods  ; Ritual  book  of  the  service  of  Amon,  that  of  Abydos, 
Mar.  Ab. , i.  pp.  34-76  of  the  text. 

6 Cp.  the  ritual  of  Schiaparelli  : II  libro  dei  funerali.  Many  examples  also  in  the  pyramid  texts. 

■ I follow  here  Mar.  Ab.,  i.  pp.  34-56.  The  texts  are  so  much  injured,  that  many  points  in  the 
above  are  hypothetical. 

T 


274 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


chap. 


myself.  As  I passed  by  the  goddess  Tefnut,  she  purified  me  ...  I am 
a prophet,  and  the  son  of  a prophet  of  this  temple.  I am  a prophet,  and 
I come  to  do  what  ought  to  be  done,  but  I do  not  come  to  do  what  ought 
not  to  be  done.”  . . . He  then  stepped  in  front  of  the  shrine  of  the  god 

and  opened  the  seal  of  clay  with  these 
words  : “ The  clay  is  broken  and  the  seal 
loosed  that  this  door  may  be  opened,  and 
all  that  is  evil  in  me  I throw  (thus)  on  the 
ground.”  When  the  door  was  open,  he 
first  incensed  the  sacred  uraeus  snake,  the 
guardian  of  the  god,  greeting  it  by  all 
its  names  ; he  then  entered  the  Holy  of 
Holies,  saying  : “ Let  thy  seat  be  adorned 
and  thy  robes  exalted  ; the  princes  of  the 
goddess  of  heaven  come  to  thee,  they 
descend  from  heaven  and  from  the  horizon 
that  they  may  hear  praise  before  thee.  . . . 
He  next  approached  the  “great  seat,” 
i.e.  that  part  of  the  shrine  where  the  statue 
of  the  god  stood,  and  said  : “ Peace  to  the 
god,  peace  to  the  god,  the  living  soul, 
conquering  his  enemies.  Thy  soul  is  with 
me,  thine  image  is  near  me  ; the  king 
brought  to  thee  thy  statue,  which  lives 
upon  the  presentation  of  the  royal  offerings. 
I am  pure.”  The  toilet  of  the  god  then 
commenced — “ he  laid  his  hands  on  him,” 
he  took  off  the  old  rouge  and  his  former 
clothes,  all  of  course  with  the  necessary 
formulae.  He  then  dressed  the  god  in 
the  robe  called  the  Nems,  saying  : “ Come 
white  dress ! come  white  dress ! come 
white  eye  of  Horus,  which  proceeds  from 
the  town  of  Nechebt.  The  gods  dress 
themselves  with  thee  in  thy  name  Dress, 
and  the  gods  adorn  themselves  with 
thee  in  thy  name  Adornment .”  The  priest  then  dressed  the  god  in  the 
great  dress,  rouged  him,  and  presented  him  with  his  insignia  : the  sceptre, 
the  staff  of  ruler,  and  the  whip,  the  bracelets  and  anklets,  as  well  as  the 
two  feathers  which  he  wore  on  his  head,  because  “ he  has  triumphed  over 
his  enemies,  and  is  more  splendid  than  gods  or  spirits.”  The  god  required 
further  a collarette  and  an  amulet,  two  red,  two  green,  and  two  white 
bands  ; when  these  had  been  presented  to  him  the  priest  might  then  leave 
the  chapel.  Whilst  he  closed  the  door,  he  said  four  times  these  words  : 
“ Come  Thoth,  thou  who  hast  freed  the  eye  of  Horus  from  his  enemies — 
let  no  evil  man  or  evil  woman  enter  this  temple.  Ptah  closes  the  door  and 


CHAPEL  WITH  A FIGURE  OF  I’TAH  OF 
MEMPHIS,  AS  HE  WAS  ADORED  AT 
KARNAK  UNDER  RAMSES  II. 

The  chapel,  as  well  as  the  baldachin  which 
encloses  it,  are  adorned  with  uraei 
(After  L.  D. , iii.  147  b.) 


XII 


RELIGION 


275 


Thoth  makes  it  fast,  closed  and  fastened  with  the  bolt.”  So  much  for  the 
ceremonies  regarding  the  dress  of  the  god  ; the  directions  were  just  as 
precise  concerning  the  purification  and  incensing  of  the  room,  and  the 
conduct  of  the  priest  when  he  opened  the  shrine  and  “ saw  the  god.” 
According  to  the  Theban  rite,1  for  instance,  as  soon  as  he  saw  the  image 
of  the  god  he  had  to  “ kiss  the  ground,  throw  himself  on  his  face,  throw 
himself  entirely  on  his  face,  kiss  the  ground  with  his  face  turned  down- 
wards, offer  incense,”  and  then  greet  the  god  with  a short  psalm. 

The  image  of  the  god  spoken  of  above  must  have  always  been  very 
small.  In  the  Holy  of  Holies  was  a shrine,  the  so-called  ?iaos,  inside 
which  was  a richly-adorned  little  bark  (see  the  accompanying  illustration), 
containing  the  figure  of  the  god."  The  statue  could  therefore  have  been 
only  about  two  feet  high  ; it  probably  resembled  the  little  bronze  figures 
of  which  we  possess  such  a number.  We  know  no  more,  for  this  sacred 
image  of  the  god  was  so  strictly  guarded  from  profane  eyes  that  as  far  as 
is  known  it  is  never  once  represented  in  the  temple  reliefs.3  Even  the 
pictures  of  the  Holy  of  Holies  show  only  the  divine  bark,  adorned  fore 
and  aft  with  the  head  of  the  animal  sacred  to  the  god,  and  manned  with 
a crew  of  small  bronze  figures  of  kings  and  gods  ; in  the  centre  is  the 
little  deck  cabin  like  a little  temple,  which  for  further  protection  is  covered 
with  a canopy  of  some  stuff  material.4  This  bark  was  carried  round  in 
procession  on  great  festivals,  and  to  the  outside  world  it  was  itself  the 
image  of  the  god.  There  is  really  nothing  very  remarkable  in  this  circum- 
stance, for  in  the  worship  of  other  nations  also,  the  shrine  or  the  proces- 
sional carriage  of  the  god,  which  alone  is  seen  by  the  people,  stands  at 
last  to  them  for  the  figure  of  the  god  itself.  It  is  however  characteristic 
of  Egypt  that  a boat  should  play  this  part  in  that  country.  The  Egyptian 
idea  of  travelling  was  always  by  Nile  boat  ; the  god  also  would  therefore, 
according  to  their  views,  require  a Nile  boat  to  go  from  place  to  place. 

Not  only  had  the  priest  to  dress  and  serve  his  god,  but  he  had  also 
to  feed  him  ; food  and  drink  had  to  be  placed  daily  on  the  table  of 
offerings,  and  on  festival  days  extra  gifts  were  due.  In  other  countries 
these  offerings  have  been  generally  maintained  by  the  gifts  of  pious 
individuals,  and  in  Egypt  also  this  was  probably  originally  the  case  ; but, 
as  we  have  said  before,  under  the  New  Empire  especially  the  state  stepped 
into  the  place  of  the  people,  and  if  private  individuals  brought  offerings, 
these  were  quite  insignificant  in  comparison  with  the  great  endowments 
made  by  the  kings. 

We  have  much  information  as  to  the  extent  and  the  kind  of  offerings; 
on  the  outer  wall  of  the  great  temple  of  Medinet  Habu  there  still  exist 
parts  of  a list  of  the  offerings  instituted  by  Ramses  II.  and  Ramses  III. 
for  this  sanctuary,  which  was  erected  by  them.  These  may  have  been 

1 Lemm,  Ritual  Book,  p.  29  ff.  47.  2 Cp.  e.g.  Mar.  Ab. , i.  32  of  the  plates. 

Except  perhaps  the  pictures  of  quite  late  date  in  the  secret  passages  at  Denderah. 

4 We  see  plainly  in  many  pictures  that  the  canopy  is  of  some  material,  for  we  can  see  the  strings 

with  which  it  is  tied  together  below. 


276 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


« 

< J 


SACRED  BARK  OF  AMON  Rfe‘,  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THOTHMES  It.,  AT  I 
When  the  temple  was  rebuilt  later,  Sety  I.  placed  his  prenomen  on  it.  (After 


XII 


RELIGION 


2 77 


richer  than  those  of  earlier  temples,  though  they  would  certainly  not 
equal  those  of  Karnak  and  Luxor.  If  we  leave  on  one  side  the  less 

important  items,  such  as  honey,  flowers,  incense,  etc.,  and  consider  simply 
the  various  meats,  drinks,  and  loaves  of  bread  placed  on  the  tables  of 
offerings,  we  shall  find  as  follows : every  day  of  the  year  the  temple 
received  about  3220  loaves  of  bread,  24  cakes,  144  jugs  of  beer,  32  geese, 
and  several  jars  of  wine.1  In  addition  to  this  revenue,  which  was  doubtless 
chiefly  used  for  the  maintenance  of  the  priests  and  the  temple  servants, 
special  endowments  were  established  for  special  days.  There  were  extra 
offerings  for  the  eight  festivals  which  recurred  every  month.  On  the  second, 
fourth,  tenth,  fifteenth,  twenty-ninth,  and  thirtieth  days  of  each  month,  83 
loaves,  1 5 jugs  of  beer,  6 birds,  and  1 jar  of  wine  were  brought  into  the 
temple  ; while  on  the  new  moon  and  on  the  sixth  day  of  the  month  the 
offerings  amounted  to  356  loaves,  14  cakes,  34  jugs  of  beer,  1 ox,  16 
birds,  23  jars  of  wine.2  Still  more  important  were  the  offerings  on  great 
festival  days,  of  which  there  was  no  lack  in  the  ecclesiastical  year  of 
ancient  Egypt.  Thus,  for  instance,  a feast  of  ten  days  was  solemnised  in 
the  last  decade  of  the  month  Choiakh  to  the  Memphite  god  Ptah-Sokaris- 
Osiris  ; the  temple  of  Medinet  Habu  took  part  in  this  festival.  If  we 
again  pass  over  the  unessential  items,  the  following  list  of  offerings  shows 
us  the  royal  endowment  for  these  festival  days : 3 


Choiakh. 

Loaves  of  Bread 
of  various  kinds. 

Cakes. 

Jugs  of  Beer. 

Oxen  and  other 
Cattle. 

Geese  and  other 
Birds. 

Jars  of  Wine. 

2 I 

145 

30 

IS 

4 

2 

2 2 

310 

10  + x 

24 

— - 

6 

— 

23 

298 

5° 

I IO 

? 

? 

P 

24 

258 

40 

168 

O 

J 

— 

2 

25 

12  37 

50 

30 

I (?) 

5 

2 

26 

3694 

600 

905 

5 

206 

33 

27 

305 

30 

51 

— 

I 2 

3 

28 

50 

— 

14 

— 

5 

2 

29 

U> 

OO 

Cm 

40 

20 

— - 

6 

1 

30 

177 

2 

? 

1 

6 (?) 

1 5 (?) 

\ et  Ptah-Sokaris-Osiris  was  only  a god  of  the  second  rank  at  Medinet 
Habu  ; at  the  great  festivals  of  Amon,  the  offerings  were  doubtless  far 
more  numerous. 

One  question  forces  itself  involuntarily  upon  the  reader,  what  became 
of  all  this  extra  food  after  it  had  fulfilled  its  purpose  of  lying  on  the  altar 
before  the  god  ? We  might  think  that  it  would  be  brought  into  the  pro- 
vision-house  and  used  gradually  for  the  maintenance  of  the  temple  servants 
and  priests  ; the  various  amounts  of  the  offerings  would  then  merely  prove 

1 Diimichen,  Calendar  inscriptions,  1-2. 

Diimichen,  Calendar  inscriptions,  3-7  ; restored  and  translated  by  Diimichen.  The  calendar 
lists  of  offerings  of  Medinet  Habu.  3 Diimichen,  Calendar  inscriptions,  22-31. 


278 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


the  greater  or  less  importance  of  the  feast.  If  however  we  consider  lists 
such  as  the  above,  we  perceive  that  the  matter  is  not  so  simple ; for 
if  on  the  different  festival  days  the  number  of  loaves  of  bread  varies  from 
50  to  3694,  and  the  jugs  of  beer  from  1 5 to  905,  the  birds  from  4 to  206, 
the  different  degree  of  sanctity  between  the  individual  days  could  not 
account  for  so  much  variation.  The  26th  of  Choiakh,  the  feast  of  Sokaris, 
was  evidently  the  principal  day  of  the  whole  festival,  but  it  could  not  be 
twenty  times  more  holy  than  the  30th  of  Choiakh,  the  sacred  day,  when 
the  pillar  of  Ded  was  erected.  It  is  much  more  likely  that  there  was  a 
more  practical  reason  for  the  choice  of  these  numbers  : the  food  probably 
supplied  different  numbers  of  persons,  and  these  persons  were  not  divine 
images,  but  the  priests  and  the  laity  who  took  part  in  the  festival.  The 
number  of  the  latter  probably  varied  much  on  the  different  festival  days  ; 
according  as  the  festival  was  a closed  or  an  open  one,  the  crowd  at  the 
feast  to  consume  the  offerings  would  vary  in  proportion.  This  would  also 
explain  the  difference  in  the  quality  of  the  food  ; at  one  time  the  people 
assisting  would  belong  to  the  upper  classes,  and  would  require  roast  meat 
and  cake  ; at  another  time  the  lower  classes  preponderated,  and  for  them 
loaves  of  bread  would  suffice. 

The  great  festivals,  of  which  I have  here  spoken,  were,  as  far  as  we 
know,  of  very  much  the  same  character,  the  chief  feature  being  a repre- 
sentation of  some  important  event  in  the  history  of  the  god  whose  day 
was  celebrated.  Under  the  Middle  Empire,  for  instance,  on  the  festival 
of  Osiris  of  Abydos,  the  former  battles  of  this  god  were  represented  ; the 
“enemies  of  Osiris  were  beaten,'’  and  this  god  was  then  carried  in  proces- 
sion to  his  tomb  in  Peqer,  the  cemetery  of  Abydos,  and  buried.  Afterwards 
there  was  a representation  of  “ that  day  of  the  great  fight,”  on  which 
“ all  his  enemies  ” were  beaten  at  the  place  “ Nedyt.”  1 The  festival  of 
’Epuat,  the  god  of  the  dead,  celebrated  at  Siut,  must  have  been  very  similar  ; 
he  was  also  “ conducted  by  a procession  to  his  tomb,”  which  was  situate 
in  the  necropolis  there.2  Indications  of  this  kind  are  frequent,  especially 
in  the  later  texts  ; nevertheless,  with  our  ignorance  of  the  mythology  on 
which  these  festivals  are  founded,  we  are  seldom  able  to  understand  them. 
We  are  aware  that  such  a god  appears  on  such  a day  (i.e.  is  carried  round 
in  procession),  and  resorts  to  the  temple  of  a god  his  friend,  but  we  know 
nothing  of  the  legend  which  would  explain  the  motive  of  his  visit. 

I have  already  given  an  illustration  (p.  65)  depicting  the  public 
proceedings  on  a similar  great  festival  ; I will  add  here  the  description  of 
another  festival,  which  I found  in  a Theban  tomb.'5  It  is  the  feast  of  the 
“ erection  of  the  pillar  Ded,”  at  the  close  of  the  above-mentioned  feast 
of  Ptah-Sokaris-Osiris,  in  the  month  of  Choiakh  : this  special  festival  was 
of  the  greater  importance  because  it  was  solemnised  on  the  morning  of 
the  royal  jubilee.  The  festivities  begin  with  a sacrifice  offered  by  the  king 
to  Osiris,  the  “ lord  of  eternity,”  a mummied  figure,  wearing  on  his  head 

1 Stele  1204,  at  Berlin,  imperfectly  published,  L.  D.,  ii.  135.  2 A.  Z.,  1882,  164. 

3 Tomb  of  Cheruf  in  Assasif,  under  Amenhotep  I If. 


XII 


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279 


the  pillar  Ded, 


The  Pharaoh  then  repairs  with  his  suite  to  the 


place  where,  lying  on  the  ground,  is  the  “ noble  pillar,”  the  erection  of 
which  forms  the  object  of  the  festival.  Ropes  were  placed  round  it,  and 
the  monarch,  with  the  help  of  the  royal  relatives  and  of  a priest,  draws  it 
up.  The  queen,  “ who  fills  the  palace  with  love,”  looks  on  at  the  sacred 
proceedings,  and  her  sixteen  daughters  make  music  with  rattles  and  with 
the  jingling  sistrum,  the  usual  instrument  played  by  women  on  sacred 
occasions.  Six  singers  join  in  a song  to  celebrate  the  god,  and  four  priests 
bring  in  the  usual  tables  of  offerings  to  place  them  before  the  pillar  which 
is  now  erect. 

So  far,  we  can  understand  the  festival  ; it  represents  the  joyful  moment 
when  the  dead  Osiris  awakes  to  life  again,  when  his  backbone,  repre- 
sented in  later  Egyptian  theology  by  the  Ded,  stands  again  erect.  The 
farther  ceremonies  of  this  festival  however  refer  to  mythological  events 
unknown  to  us.  Four  priests,  with  their  fists  raised,  rush  upon  four  others, 
who  appear  to  give  way,  two  others  strike  each  other,  one  standing  by 
says  of  them,  “ I seize  Horus  shining  in  truth.”  1 Then  follows  a great 
flogging  scene,  in  which  fifteen  persons  beat  each  other  mercilessly  with 
their  sticks  and  fists  ; they  are  divided  into  several  groups,  two  of  which, 
according  to  the  inscription,  represent  the  people  of  the  town  Pe  and  of 
the  town  Dep.  This  is  evidently  the  representation  of  a great  mytho- 
logical fight,  in  which  were  engaged  the  inhabitants  of  Pe  and  Dep,  i.e.  of 
the  ancient  city  of  Buto,  in  the  north  of  the  Delta.  The  ceremonies 
which  close  the  sacred  rite  are  also  quite  problematic  : four  herds  of  oxen 
and  asses  are  seen  driven  by  their  herdsmen  ; in  the  accompanying  text 
we  are  told,  “ four  times  they  go  round  the  walls  on  that  day  when  the 
noble  pillar  of  Ded  is  erected.” 


We  cannot  conceive  an  Egyptian  god  without  his  house , the 


which  he  lives,  in  which  his  festivals  are  solemnised,  and  which  he  never 
leaves  except  on  processional  days.  The  site  on  which  it  is  built  is 
generally  holy  ground ,2  i.e.  a spot  on  which,  since  the  memory  of  man,  an 
older  sanctuary  of  the  god  had  stood.  Even  those  Egyptian  temples 
which  seem  most  modern  have  usually  a long  history  ; the  edifice  may 
originally  have  been  very  insignificant,  but  as  the  prestige  of  the  god 
increased,  larger  buildings  were  erected,  which  again,  in  the  course  of 
centuries,  were  enlarged  and  rebuilt  in  such  a way  that  the  original  plan 
could  no  longer  be  traced.  This  is  the  history  of  nearly  all  Egyptian 
temples,  and  explains  the  fact  that  we  know  so  little  of  the  temples  of 
the  Old  and  of  the  Middle  Empire  ; they  have  all  been  metamorphosed 
into  the  vast  buildings  of  the  New  Empire. 

The  oldest  form  of  Egyptian  temple  is  known  to  us  through  the 


1 Ilorus  “shining  in  truth”  is  one  of  the  names  of  Amenhotep  III. 

2 Inscription  in  the  temple  of  Ramses  III.  at  Karnak. 


280 


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CHAP. 


inscriptions  of  the  ancient  Empire  ; a is  a temple  of  the  god  Set  ; 1 b of 
a god  whose  name  is  not  given.2  Both  seem  to  be  hovels  of  wood  and 
lattice  work  ; over  the  doors  we  see  a barbaric  ornamentation  of  bent 

pieces  of  wood  ; one  temple,  like  those  of  later 
date,  is  adorned  with  flag-staves  ; the  entrance 
appears  to  be  closed  by  a paling.  Such  build- 
ings as  these  are  common  amongst  nations  of 
low  civilisation,  and  the  plan  of  them  may  go 
back  to  those  prehistoric  ages  of  which  I have 
spoken  above  (ch.  ii.  pp.  34,  35). 

Certain  ruins  of  temples  of  the  time  of  the 
Old  Empire  still  exist,  viz.  the  pyramid  temples  and  the  splendid 
though  enigmatical  building  not  far  from  the  great  Sphinx  ; these  possess 
the  grand  features  of  later  architecture.  The  parts  that  remain  appear 
to  have  been  merely  the  substructures  ; they  con- 
sist of  immense  square  buildings,  constructed 
partly  of  costly  material,  but  without  ornament 
or  sculpture  ; the  division  of  the  space  unfortu- 
nately is  not  certain.  On  the  other  hand,  the  few 
remains  that  we  have  of  temples  of  the  Middle 
Empire  are  essentially  in  harmony  with  the  plans 
of  those  of  the  New  Empire,  and  if  we  may  trust 
the  statement  of  a very  late  inscription,3  the 
same  disposition  of  the  various  halls  which  we 
meet  with  after  the  time  of  the  New  Empire  was 
customary  even  in  the  time  of  the  6th  dynasty. 

We  cannot  here  enter  into  a discussion  concerning 
the  variations  of  the  plans  of  the  various  sanc- 
tuaries, which  were  often  due  to  accidental  circum- 
stances ; it  will  suffice  to  give  a description  of  a 
typical  Egyptian  temple. 

The  approach  to  the  sanctuary  was  by  a 
paved  road,  with  sphinxes  on  either  side.  One 
or  more  of  the  so-called  pylons  stood  in  front  of 
the  temple.  These  great  gates  were  flanked  with 
two  towers,  which  may  originally  have  actually 
served  as  a protection  for  the  entrance  ; under 
the  New  Empire,  however,  they  stood  inside  the 
surrounding  wall  of  the  sanctuary,  and  were 
then  purely  decorative  ; their  coloured  walls  and 
the  high  flag-staves  and  obelisks  were  intended  to 
impress  the  visitor  with  the  sanctity  of  the  place 
he  was  about  to  enter. 

1 Mar.  Mast.,  74.  2 Mar.  Mon.  div.,  18  b. 

3 One  inscription  tells  us  that  the  temple  of  Denderah,  according  to  its  first  plan,  was  built  under 
the  6th  dynasty. 


TEMPLE  OF  AMON  RE*  AT 
KARNAK,  BUILT  BY  RAMSES 
in.  (A  specimen  of  the 
usual  type  of  temple. ) 

A.  Pylon,  b.  Court,  c.  Hypo- 
style  Hall,  D.  Chapei  of 
Amon,  E.  Chapel  of  Mut, 
F.  Chapel  of  Chons.  Both 
the  latter  have  side-rooms, 
one  of  which  contains  the 
staircase  leading  to  the  roof. 


b 


XII 


RELIGION 


Immediately  beyond  the  pylon  was  the  great  court,  surrounded  by  a 
colonnade  of  massive  pillars.  In  the  further  wall  of  the  court  was  the 
entrance  into  the  so-called  hypostyle  hall,  a gigantic  hall  supported  by 
pillars,  and  lighted  by  small  windows  under  the  roof.  The  festivals  were 
celebrated  in  the  columned  court  and  the  hypostyle 
hall,  but  these  were  not  the  abode  of  the  god.  He 
dwelt  in  the  central  one  of  the  three  dark  chapels 
situate  behind  the  hypostyle  hall  ; here  was  kept  the 
divine  bark  with  the  image  of  the  god  ; the  two 
adjoining  rooms  belonged  as  a rule  to  his  consort  and 
to  his  son.  These  three  chapels  were  the  most  holy 
parts  of  the  temple  ; “ he  who  enters  must -purify  him- 
self four  times,”  was  written  close  to  the  doors  of 
these  chapels.1  Often,  as  at  Karnak  and  Luxor,  the 
Holy  of  Holies  had  a second  entrance  at  the  back,  and 
behind  it  were  all  kinds  of  rooms  serving  as  storerooms 
for  temple  provisions,  etc. 

The  above  description  may  be  considered  as  the 
general  plan  of  all  the  larger  temples  ; smaller  temples 
were  content  with  fewer  rooms,- — thus  the  pretty  little 
temple  erected  by  Thothmes  III.  at  Medinet  Habu  con- 
sisted of  but  one  hall,  supported  by  pillars  and  columns, 
shut  in  on  the  outer  side  by  a screen  of  intercolumnar 
slabs.  In  the  centre  was  the  sanctuary  of  Amon  ; at 
the  further  end  were  three  chambers  dedicated  to  Amon, 

Mut,  and  Chons.  These  few  rooms  might  well  suffice 
for  the  temple  of  a suburb  of  the  capital. 

The  fact  that  the  plans  of  the  temples  seem  to  us 
most  complicated  arises  from  the  circumstance  that 
they  were  not  built  from  one  design.  Temples  such  as  Luxor,  or  more 
particularly  Karnak,  owe  the  development  of  their  plan  to  the  many 
hands  which  have  worked  at  them.  Each  king,  fired  with  ambition  to 
build,  designed  some  new  addition  to  the  temple  of  the  Theban  Amon  ; 
he  wished  his  plan  to  surpass  if  possible  any  previous  project,  but  it 
was  granted  to  few  to  complete  the  work  they  had  designed.  Thothmes 
I.  erected  his  pylon  at  Karnak,  and  thought  thus  to  have  completed 
the  facade  for  ever  ; he  also  began  but  never  finished  those  splendid 
buildings  intended  to  meet  this  fagade,  and  to  unite  that  great  temple 
with  the  temple  of  Mut.  Amenhotep  III.  spoilt  this  plan  by  adding 
another  pylon  in  front,  and  the  kings  of  the  1 9th  dynasty  went  so  far  as 
to  place  their  gigantic  hypostyle  hall  before  this  latter  pylon,  so  that  the 
facade  of  the  18th  dynasty  was  left  in  the  very  centre  of  the  temple;  a 
new  pylon  (the  fourth),  greater  than  any  other,  formed  the  entrance. 
Incredible  as  it  may  appear/, the  temple  was  not  yet  complete  ; when 

1 E.g.  in  the  temple  of  Ramses  III.  at  Karnak,  the  regular  simple  plan  of  which  answers  exactly 
to  the  description  here  given. 


o S \o  ^ <*M. 

GROUND-PLAN  OF  THE 
TEMPLE  OF  LUXOR. 
(After  Perrot-Chipiez. ) 


282 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Ramses  III.  built  his  little  temple  to  the  Theban  gods,  he  placed  it  in 
part  closely  in  front  of  the  facade  of  the  great  temple.  Afterwards,  the 
Libyan  princes  felt  it  their  duty  to  build  an  immense  hall  of  pillars  in 
front  again,  which  curiously  enough  happened  exactly  to  cross  the  temple 
of  Ramses  III.  If  we  consider  that  at  the  same  time  similar  additions 
were  made  to  the  back  of  the  temple  and  to  the  interior,  we  gain  a little 
idea  of  the  extreme  confusion  of  the  whole. 

The  decoration  of  the  temple  corresponded  with  its  sacred  character, 
being  almost  throughout  purely  religious.  The  walls  and  pillars  were 
generally  covered  from  top  to  bottom  with  representations  of  the  gods  ; 


THE  GOD  SET  TEACHES  THE  KING  THOTHMES  III.  TO  SHOOT  WITH  THE  BOW 
(Karnak,  L.  D. , iii.  36  b). 

the  brilliant  colouring  brightening  the  broad  spaces  in  the  building.  These 
pictures  were  little  more  than  pure  decoration,  and  their  monotony  is 
almost  incredible.  We  see  the  king  standing  in  a stiff  posture,  dressed 
in  a costume  of  ancient  date,  with  the  great  divinities  of  the  temple. 

The  principal  god  holds  the  sign  of  life  -p  to  his  nose  ; the  goddess 

blesses  him,  laying  her  hand  on  his  shoulder ; the  third  and  youthful 
god  looks  on,  and  Thoth  the  scribe  of  the  gods  marks  down  the 
“ millions  of  years,”  which  these  divinities  bestow  upon  the  Pharaoh.1 
The  following  scenes  also  constantly  occur : two  gods  embrace  the 
monarch,  or  a goddess  gives  him  her  breast ; 2 Horus  and  Set,  the  gods  of 
war,  teach  him  to  shoot  with  bow  and  arrow  ; 3 or  the  monarch  stands  in 
supplication  before  several  gods  seated  on  their  thrones  in  two  columns  one 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  15,  and  frequently.  2 L.  D.,  iii.  35  b,  and  frequently. 

3 L.  D.,  iii.  36  b,  and  frequently. 


XII 


RELIGION 


283 


over  the  other,  all  being  exactly  alike  j1  or  these  divine  puppets  themselves 
approach  the  Pharaoh  in  two  long  rows,  in  order  to  express  their  thanks 
to  him  for  this  “ beautiful  monument.”  3 That  these  reliefs  were  purely 
decorative  and  served  no  other  purpose  than  to  enliven  with  their  colour 
the  large  blank  spaces  of  walls  and  pillars,  we  see  by  the  fact  that  they 
are  repeated  on  the  corresponding  parts  of  the  architecture,  where  they 
are  all  turned  in  the  opposite  direction  for  the  sake  of  symmetr\\ 


KING  RAMSES  II.  RECEIVES  FROM  AMON  Rfe',  “THE  LORD  OF  KARNAK,"  WHO  IS  SEATED  IN  A 
CHAPEL,  THE  SIGN  OF  THE  NUMBERLESS  FESTIVALS  WHICH  HE  SHOULD  YET  LIVE  TO  SEE  ; 

The  god  says  : " My  beloved  son  of  my  body,  lord  of  the  two  countries,  User-wa'  Rc‘,  chosen  of  Re‘, 
I give  thee  the  two  countries  in  peace,  I give  thee  millions  of  festivals  in  life,  duration,  and  purity. 
Mut,  the  consort  of  Amon,  “the  lady  of  heaven  and  the  ruler  of  the  gods,"  says  : “ I place  the 
diadem  of  Re‘  on  thy  head,  and  give  thee  years  of  festivals,  whilst  all  the  barbarians  lie  beneath 
thy  feet."  The  moon-god  Chons,  the  child  of  the  two  gods,  says  : “I  give  thee  thy  strength. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  numberless  inscriptions  of  the  temples  ; 
their  contents  are  quite  secondary  to  their  decorative  purpose.  The  god 
assures  the  king  over  and  over  again  in  these  words,3  “ I give  thee  years 
of  eternity  and  the  joyful  government  over  the  two  countries.  So  long  as 
I exist,  so  long  shalt  thou  exist  on  earth,  shining  as  King  of  T pper 
Egypt  and  King  of  Lower  Egypt  on  the  throne  of  the  living.  As  long 
as  heaven  endures  thy  name  shall  endure,  and  shall  grow  eternally,  as  a 
reward  for  this  beautiful,  great,  pure,  strong,  excellent  memorial  that  thou 
hast  erected  to  me.  Thou  hast  accomplished  it,  thou  ever-living  one.” 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  36  c,  cl,  and  frequently. 

" L.  1). , iii.  37  b,  and  frequently.  3 L.  D.,  45  a,  and  many  other  instances. 


284 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


In  other  places  the  god  says,  “ I bestow  upon  thee  life,  duration,  purity,” 
or,  “ I bestow  upon  thee  the  everlasting  life  of  Re‘  and  his  years,  as 
monarch  of  the  two  countries  ; the  black  and  the  red  land  lie  beneath  thy 
throne,  as  they  lie  daily  beneath  that  of  Re1.1  Or,  again,  “ My  son,  whom 
I love,  my  heart  rejoices  when  I see  thy  beauty  ; thou  hast  renewed  for 
me  once  more  my  divine  house,  as  the  horizon  of  the  sky.  For  this 
reason  I give  to  thee  the  eternal  life  of  Re‘  and  the  years  of  Atum.”  2 

When  we  have  read  these  interesting  assurances,  mutatis  mutandis, 
some  dozen  times  in  one  temple,  we  may  perhaps  be  encouraged  by  find- 
ing the  god  speaking  to  the  king  as  follows  : “ Welcome,  thou  good  god  ; 
I place  thy  victory  over  every  nation,  and  the  fear  of  thee  in  the  hearts 
of  the  nine  nations  of  the  bow.  Their  great  ones  come  as  one  man  to 
thee  with  their  backs  laden.  I place  the  fear  of  thee  in  the  two  countries, 
and  the  nine  nations  of  the  bow  shall  bow  when  thou  dost  call.”  3 But 
if  we  think  to  have  found  a new  thought,  we  shall  be  disappointed  when 
we  read  on  the  next  wall,  “ Son  of  my  body,  whom  I love,  thou  lord  of 
power  over  all  the  countries!  The  people  of  the  Nubian  Troglodytes  lie 
slain  beneath  thy  feet.  I allow  the  princes  of  the  southern  countries  to 
come  to  thee,  bringing  their  tribute  and  their  children  on  their  backs  and 
all  the  beautiful  gifts  of  the  south.  Their  lives  are  in  thy  hand,  they  live 
or  die  as  thou  pleasest.”  4 Or,  again,  “ Welcome  ! Thou  hast  captured 
what  thou  didst  desire,  and  hast  slain  those  who  crossed  thy  border.  My 
sword  is  with  me,  it  falls  upon  the  countries  ; thou  dost  cut  off  the 
heads  of  the  Asiatics.  I allow  thy  power  to  be  great,  and  subject  each 
country  to  thee,  that  they  may  see  how  strong  is  thy  majesty,  like  to  my 
son  when  he  is  angry.”  5 

It  must  strike  every  one  that  all  these  representations  and  inscriptions 
are  compiled  more  to  the  honour  of  the  kings  than  to  that  of  the  gods. 
The  exaggerated  loyalty  that  leads  to  this  abuse  of  the  inscriptions  is 
found  also,  in  a curious  way,  in  the  appellations  of  the  various  temples, 
which  were  dictated  by  the  same  spirit.  The  ancient  names  of  the  great 
temples,  as  Opet,  for  the  Theban  temple  of  Amon,  ’Esher,  for  the  temple 
of  Mut,  etc.,  were  after  a time  replaced  by  names  which  identify  the 
temple  with  the  name  of  the  reigning  king.  The  most  ancient  examjfie 
of  this  custom  is  found  under  the  Middle  Empire  ; the  temple  of  Sobk,  in 
Shedt,  the  capital  of  the  Feyum,  under  Amenemhe't  III.,  is  designated 
as,  “ that  Amenemhe't  may  live  for  ever  in  the  house  of  Sobk  of 
Shedt.” 6 Under  the  New  Empire  the  formula  would  run  somewhat 
otherwise,  “ the  temple  of  the  millions  of  years  of  Amenemhe't,  in  the 
house  of  Sobk.”  ' The  sense  is  the  same  in  each  case  ; the  temple  is  a 
building  which  is  indissolubly  connected  with  the  memory  of  that  monarch 
who  had  rendered  it  the  greatest  services.’’  Thus  also,  for  instance,  under 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  1 19  g.  2 L.  D.,  iii.  125  a.  3 L.  D.,  iii.  127  b. 

4 L.  D.,  iii.  210  a.  5 L.  D.,  iii.  21 1.  0 L.  U.,  ii.  138  e. 

7 In  Egyptian  there  are  two  different  words  for  house,  the  ht  of  the  king  and  the  pr  of  the  god. 

8 This  is  the  most  simple  explanation  ; otherwise  we  might  think  that  the  king  was  worshipped 
in  each  temple,  and  that  they  wished  to  emphasise  this  fact. 


XII 


RELIGION 


Ramses  III.,  the  temple  of  Amon  is  called  “the  temple  of  Ramses  III. 
in  the  house  of  Amon  ” ; that  of  Re‘,  “the  temple  of  Ramses  III.  in  the 
house  of  Re‘ ” ; that  of  Ptah,  “the  temple  of  Ramses  III.  in  the  house  of 
Ptah,”  and  so  on.  These  names  were  only  appropriate  of  course  in  those 
cases,  where  a king  had  actually  built  or  richly  endowed  the  temple  ; 
nevertheless  they  were  applied  indiscriminately  to  all  temples  and  all 
monarchs  ; and  when  we  find  that  under  Sety  .II.  the  temple  of  Amon 
in  the  town  of  Ramses  is  called  “ the  temple  of  the  millions  of  years  of 
King  Sety  II.  in  the  house  of  Amon,1  it  does  not  follow  from  this  alone 
that  that  king  had  rendered  it  any  special  services. 

The  property  of  the  god,  his  house , I 1 (i.e.  his  estates),  and  his 

herds  bear  similar  names  ; the  latter  are  also  called  the  “ house  (or  the 
herd)  of  Ramses  III.  in  the  house  of  Amon,”  as  if  the  reigning  king  had 
bestowed  them  all  upon  the  god. 

The  great  gods  however  possessed  several  temples,  houses,  and  herds, 
and  it  was  necessary  to  distinguish  them  from  each  other  by  slight  varia- 
tions in  the  common  name.  For  this  purpose  the  monarch  was  designated 
in  one  case  by  his  throne  name,  in  another  by  his  family  name,  “ the 
temple  of  Userma‘re‘  Mi-Amun  in  the  house  of  Amon,”  is  different  from 
the  “ temple  of  Ramses  heq  On  in  the  house  of  Amon,”  though  both  are 
names  of  the  same  king.  They  also  distinguished  the  temples  by  adding 
some  epithet  ; thus  the  temple  of  the  sun  at  Heliopolis  was  called  the 
“ temple  of  Ramses  heq  On  in  the  house  of  Re‘,”  and  the  later  temple,  at 
Tell  el  Yehudeh,  north  of  Heliopolis,  the  “ temple  of  Ramses  heq  On  in 
the  house  of  Re‘  built  for  millions  of  years.”  2 The  choice  of  these  names 
was  not  accidental,  they  were  of  course  officially  conferred  by  the  king. 

We  cannot  take  leave  of  this  subject  without  casting  a glance  upon  the 
buildings  belonging  to  the  temple,  the  storehouses,  the  dwellings  for  the 
priests,  etc.  They  were  situate  in  the  so-called  temple  circuit,  i.e.  inside 
those  great  walls  which  enclosed  a wide  circle  round  the  temple,  and 
which  can  still  be  traced  in  many  of  the  ruins.  The  dimensions  of  these 
temple  enclosures  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  that  of  southern 
Karnak  comprised  about  twelve  acres,  and  that  of  middle  Karnak, 
probably,  fifty-seven.  Even  if  these  were  of  unusual  size,  they  show  us 
that  each  of  the  great  temples,  with  its  additional  buildings,  courts,  and 
gardens,  occupied  quite  a town  quarter.  The  buildings  comprising  this 
sacred  quarter  were  constructed,  for  the  most  part,  of  brick,  and  therefore 
have  mainly  disappeared  ; 3 and  we  should  not  therefore  be  in  a position 
to  form  a picture  of  the  temple  surroundings  did  not  the  representations 
in  the  tombs  come  to  our  assistance.  It  is  again  the  tombs  of  Tell 
el  Amarna  which  have  preserved  this  record  for  us. 

When  King  Chuen’eten  left  the  residence  of  his  fathers  and  founded 
the  town  of  the  “ Horizon  of  the  Sun,”  in  Middle  Egypt,  for  himself  and 

1 An.,  4,  7,  i. 

- The  Harris  I.  papyrus  is  full  of  similar  examples,  which  can  be  easily  studied  in  Field's  Index. 

3 Close  to  the  Ramesseum  the  vaulted  storerooms  are  still  in  existence. 


286 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


THE  ADJOINING  BUILDINGS  OF  THE  TEMPLE  OF  THE  SUN-DISK 
(From  the  tomb  of  Meryre',  at  Tell  el  Amarna.  L.  D. , iii.  95.) 


XII 


RELIGION 


287 


his  god,  he  took  care  that  there  should  be  splendid  temple-buildings  in 
his  new  city,  and  one  of  his  faithful  courtiers,  the  high  priest  Meryre',  has, 
in  the  pictures  of  his  tomb,  transmitted  to  posterity  the  story  of  their 
grandeur.  They  are  interesting  enough  to  reward  particular  attention, 
the  more  so  as  they  elucidate  much  that  has  already  been  described. 

The  temple  is  in  general  built  after  the  usual  plan  of  the  great  temples, 
though  there  are  certain  curious  details  in  the  architecture.1  Passing 
through  the  immense  pylon  adorned  with  flag-staves,  we  enter  a large 
court  in  the  middle  of  which  stands  the  great  altar  of  the  god,  which  is 
reached  only  by  a flight  of  steps  ; the  altar  is  richly  laden  with  slaughtered 
oxen  and  geese  and  decked  with  flowers.  In  order  to  show  that  this 
court  is  open  to  all  worshippers,  it  is  not  closed  by  thick  walls,  but  by  a 
chain  of  structures  with  portals.  The  doors  of  the  latter  stand  open, 
except  at  the  back  part  of  the  court,  where  there  is  a wall  to  separate  it 
from  the  fore  part. 

Three  smaller  chambers  lie  behind  the  central  one  ; the  hypostyle 
hall  is  noteworthy,  it  is  supported  by  sixteen  large  pillars.  Six  small 
buildings  standing  in  this  central  part  of  the  temple  may  perhaps  have 
served  as  storerooms.  The  termination  of  the  whole  building  is  formed 
by  two  grand  halls  or  courts  against  which  sixteen  rooms  are  built,  which 
evidently  constitute  the  special  places  for  worship.  In  the  middle  of  each 
hall  stands  a great  altar. 

Close  behind  this  great  temple  stands  a second  smaller  one,  consisting 
of  a great  hall  surrounded  by  smaller  rooms,  in  front  of  which  there  is  a 
hypostyle  hall  with  rows  of  pillars  and  statues  of  the  king,  as  well  as  a 
small  court. 

Passing  from  the  “ House  of  the  Sun  ” proper,  we  come  to  the  adjoin- 
ing buildings.  The  large  temple  is  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  a small 
court,  which  has  one  entrance  only.  No  one  could  reach  the  temple 
without  passing  through  this  gate,  and  this  entrance  was  guarded  in  a 
military  manner,  for  two  houses  close  by  in  the  court  were  evidently 
inhabited  by  watchmen.  To  the  left  of  the  great  gate  a wall  divides  off  a 
corner  of  the  court, — here  the  animals  for  the  sacrifices  were  killed.  Pos- 
sibly the  more  refined  contemporaries  of  Chuen’eten  found  less  enjoyment 
in  the  slaughtering  of  animals  than  their  ancestors  of  the  time  of  Chufu, 
who  seem  to  have  represented  that  subject  with  particular  pleasure. 

The  little  temple  behind  is  also  surrounded  by  a court  ; here  also  there 
is  the  walled-off  slaughter-yard  to  the  left  of  the  entrance.  In  the  rear  is 
a small  building  which  served  as  a kitchen,  and  a larger  one,  probably 
the  bakery,  for  in  it  people  seem  to  be  kneading  dough.  Thus  we  see 
that  the  space  in  the  court  to  the  left  of  the  temple  was  devoted  to 
household  offices  ; I cannot  tell  for  what  purposes  that  on  the  right-hand 

1 The  anterior  temple,  L.  D.,  iii.  96  c,  the  posterior,  ib.  96  a ; both  are  shown  in  the  picture, 
L.  D. , iii.  94.  It  is  instructive  to  compare  the  two  representations  ; we  see  the  freedom  with  which 
the  Egyptian  painter  treated  detail.  The  remarkable  picture,  L.  D.,  iii.  102,  possibly  represents 
also  the  smaller  posterior  temple,  though  the  variations  are  indeed  very  great. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


side  was  used  ; perhaps  for  worship,  for  we  see  there  a seated  group  of 
singers,  who  are  devoutly  singing  their  hymns  accompanied  by  the 
harp. 

It  appears  that  the  large  piece  of  ground  at  the  back  of  the  smaller 
temple  was  taken  up  with  the  dwellings  of  the  priests  and  servants,  as 
well  as  by  the  granary  and  the  treasury  belonging  to  the  temple  ; our 
illustration  gives  a tolerably  clear  idea  of  these  buildings.1 

The  piece  of  ground  which  appears  to  have  been  connected  with  the 
temple  by  a side-door  is  surrounded  by  a wall  into  which  admission  can 
only  be  gained  by  one  gateway.  The  space  between  the  buildings  is  laid 
out  as  a garden  and  planted  with  trees,  each  trunk  is  surrounded  by  a 
little  heap  of  earth  ; there  are  also  two  tanks  to  facilitate  the  watering  of 
the  young  plants. 

The  great  building  to  the  right  of  the  entrance  consists  of  thirty-seven 
rooms,  which  are  arranged  in  two  rows  round  a rectangular  court  ; a 
colonnade  between  these  rows  forms  a corridor  for  the  rooms  behind  ; 
there  is  another  small  court  in  front  of  the  house.  This  building  may 
have  contained  the  offices  for  the  management  of  the  temple  property,  or 
the  dwellings  for  the  servants. 

Beyond,  there  lies  another  building,  far  larger  and  grander  than  the 
one  described  above.  A large  hall  supported  by  two  rows  of  columns, 
and  a parallel  smaller  hall  with  one  row,  appear  to  serve  as  courts  ; be- 
tween them  and  round  them  is  a complicated  series  of  halls,  rooms,  and 
storerooms.  We  are  probably  right  in  regarding  the  principal  building, 
surrounded  by  courts  and  stabling,  as  the  dwelling-house  of  the  priest. 

To  the  left,  on  the  smaller  part  of  the  piece  of  ground,  is  the  provision- 
house.  On  each  side  of  a court,  well  guarded  by  gates  and  walls,  lie 
eight  chambers  filled  with  all  manner  of  gigantic  jars  ; from  the  hinder- 
most  chamber  a staircase  leads  to  a story  above,  the  low  rooms  of  which 
are  seen  in  our  illustration.  These  rooms  are  the  temple  storerooms  ; the 
curious  building  in  the  middle  of  the  provision-house  may  be  the  treasury. 
In  the  court  of  the  provision-house  is  a second  similar  building  with 
stately  doors  and  adorned  with  rows  of  pillars  ; in  the  court  of  the  latter 
building,  separated  from  the  outer  world  by  threefold  walls,  we  find  the 
central  point  of  the  whole  plan,  a square  building  with  four  closed  doors. 
The  roof  of  this  edifice  is  arranged  as  a kind  of  temple  and  provided  with 
an  altar  on  which  thank-offerings  may  be  offered  to  the  god  out  of  the 
fulness  of  his  gifts.  Steps  outside  lead  up  to  this  altar  on  the  roof. 

Finally,  behind  the  storehouses,  protected  from  idle  visitors  by  walls 
and  closed  gates,  is  a garden  or  grove  with  a large  tank  in  the  centre. 
We  do  not  know  whether  this  artificial  lake  with  its  flight  of  steps  leading 
down  to  the  water  was  merely  for  the  refreshment  of  the  priests,  or  served, 
as  at  Karnak  for  instance,  for  certain  ceremonies  at  the  festivals.  It  is 

1 After  the  remarkable  picture,  L.  D. , iii.  95,  which  has  been  explained  in  several  ways;  e.g. 
Perrot  and  Maspero  consider  the  storehouse  to  have  been  a palace.  The  above  explanation  appears 
to  me  to  be  tolerably  certain,  but  its  position  with  regard  to  the  temple  is  uncertain. 


XII 


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289 


also  uncertain  whether  the  small  building  on  the  bank  was  for  pleasure  or 
for  more  serious  purposes. 

As  centuries  elapsed  the  ruling  idea  in  Egyptian  life  became  more 
and  more  religious,  and  at  the  same  time  also  the  servants  of  religion 
gradually  attained  that  high  position  which  to  us  appears  unnatural. 
The  history  of  the  growth  of  priestly  influence  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  studies  in  Egyptology,  but  it  is  beset  with  very  many  difficulties, 
and  the  following  sketch  of  this  history  must  therefore  be  accepted  with 
all  caution.  Before  however  we  approach  this  dangerous  topic,  it  will 
be  as  well  to  explain  the  meaning  of  those  priestly  titles  which  most 
frequently  occur. 

We  will  first  consider  the  dignity  of  Udb.  The  writing  of  the  name 


shows  that  the  duty  of  this  priest  was  to  pour  out  the  drink-offering. 


The  signification  of  the  word  points  to  another  of  his  functions.  Ue'b 
signifies  pure , and  in  fact  under  the  Old  Empire  this  priest,  the  Ue‘b  or  the 
“ prophet  and  Uc‘b,”  or  the  “ superintendent  of  the  Ue'bs  of  the  Pharaoh,” 
had  to  examine  into  the  purity  of  the  sacrificial  animals  ; it  was  only 
when  he  had  smelt  the  blood  and  declared  it  pure.,  that  the  pieces  of  flesh 
might  be  laid  on  the  table  of  offerings.1 2  The  word  Ue‘b  serves  also  as  a 
general  term  for  priest. 

More  important  perhaps  than  the  Ue‘b  was  the  Clierheb , jj  /L  ) , the 


reciter- priest?  His  duty  wras  to  recite  from  the  holy  books,  and  as, 

according  to  Egyptian  faith,  magical  power  lay  hidden  in  these  old 
religious  texts,  the  people  believed,  at  any  rate  under  the  New  Empire, 
that  the  Cherheb  was  a magician.  This  power  was  especially  ascribed 
to  the  “ first  reciter-priest  ” of  the  king.3 


The  largest  class  of  the  priesthood  however  were  the  ty,  servants  of 


the  god,  the  ecclesiastics  whom,  after  Greek  custom,  we  usually  call  prophets.4 
The  latter  appellation  has  become  so  customary  that  I have  retained  it  in 
this  book,  and  when  I use  this  most  inappropriate  term,  I must  ask  my 
readers,  once  for  all,  not  to  think  of  the  Hebrew  prophets,  those  religious 
leaders  who  stood  in  conscious  opposition  to  the  priesthood.  Still  less 
did  these  Egyptian  prophets  prophesy ; the  term  prophet  is  here  only 
another  word  for  priest. 

The  above  three  titles  and  several  other  similar  but  less  frequent 
ones,  were  in  use  from  the  oldest  to  the  latest  period,  but  it  would  be  a 
mistake  always  to  attribute  the  same  significance  to  them.  On  the 
contrary,  the  status  of  the  clergy,  and  in  consequence  the  ideas  connected 
with  these  appellations,  varied  ; a prophet  of  the  time  of  Ramses  II.  would 


1 L.  D.,  ii.  68  ; Dum.  Res.,  xi. , and  another  representation  from  the  same  tomb. 

2 Literally,  “he  with  the  book.”  Cp.  Br.  Wb.  Suppl.,  804. 

3 Pap.  Westcar,  passim,  as  to  the  “ first  reciter-priest”  under  the  O.  E.  : cp.  above,  p.  90. 

4 Why  the  Greeks  called  them  thus  we  know  not. 

U 


2go 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


occupy  a very  different  position  from  that  occupied  by  a prophet  of  the 
time  of  Chufu. 

It  cannot  be  accidental  that  under  the  Old  Empire,  when  religion  was 
not  so  important  a factor  in  the  life  of  the  people  as  during  the  later 
epochs,  the  religious  administration  was  far  more  the  common  property  of 
the  people  than  it  ever  afterwards  became.  Almost  every  man  of  rank 
under  the  Old  Empire  held,  in  addition  to  his  secular  calling,  one  or  more 
priestly  appointments,  and  the  women  devoted  themselves  to  the  service 
of  the  temple  as  much  as  the  men.  The  dignity  of  the  priesthood  was  in 
part  the  privilege  of  those  who  held  state  appointments  ; thus,  the  judges 
were  generally  priests  of  the  goddess  of  truth,1  whilst  the  “ great  men  of 
the  south”  served  as  a rule  the  goddess  Heqt.2  Usually  also  priestly 
offices  were  hereditary  in  individual  families  of  rank,  the  members  of 
which  served  the  god  of  their  home  even  when  living  at  court,  far  from 
the  town  of  their  fathers.3  High  officials  undertook  also  the  duties  of 
other  priestly  offices  in  order  to  show  their  loyalty.  Thus,  the  pious 
kings  of  the  fifth  dynasty  founded  a number  of  places  of  worship  to  the 
sun -god  ; and  their  courtiers,  therefore,  gave  special  preference  to  the 
service  of  the  god  of  these  new  sanctuaries.4  It  was  also  a matter  of 
course  that  men  of  high  rank  should  adore  the  reigning  Pharaoh  or  one 
of  his  ancestors.5 6  Women  also,  as  I said  before,  took  their  part  in 
these  various  cults  ; G as  a rule  however  they  served  the  two  goddesses, 
Neit  and  Hathor.7 8 

Whilst  most  of  the  priestly  offices  were  vested  in  private  individuals 
holding  additional  appointments,  there  were  others  requiring  continual 
service  in  the  temple,  which  had  of  course  to  be  served  by  ecclesiastics 
proper  ; these  were,  on  the  one  hand,  the  lowest, s and,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  highest  offices.  The  high  priests  of  the  great  sanctuaries  held  a 
peculiar  position  which  is  still  recognisable  by  their  titles.  They  are  not 
called  “ superintendents  of  the  prophets,”  or  “ first  prophets,”  or  “ great 
priests,”  as  are  the  chiefs  of  the  temple  officials  of  lower  rank,  but  they 
bear  titles  which  characterise  them  as  quite  peculiar  personages,  I might 
almost  say  as  personages  quite  outside  the  ordinary  priesthood.  The 
high  priest  of  Heliopolis9  is  called  “ he  who  is  great  in  regarding,”  he  bears 
also  the  additional  titles,  “ He  who  sees  the  secret  of  heaven,”  and  “ Chief 
of  the  secrets  of  heaven,”  as  if  he  were  the  chief  astronomer  ; his  colleague 

1 R.  J.  It.,  81,  87  ; Mar.  Mast.,  165,  218,  229,  etc. 

2 Cp.  above,  p.  82. 

3 Cp.  e.g.  the  priestly  titles  of  the  father,  Mar.  Mast.,  198,  199,  with  those  of  the  son,  ib.  200. 

4 Mar.  Mast.,  112,  199,  200,  233,  243,  248,  250,  259,  etc. 

5 I do  not  here  refer  to  the  funerary  worship  of  the  kings  (“  priest  of  the  pyramids  ”)  which  I shall 
speak  of  in  the  following  chapter,  but  to  the  worship  of  the  king  himself,  which  appears  to  have 
been  a separate  matter  (“prophet  of  the  king”),  as  Mar.  Mast.,  89,  92,  198,  200,  217,  243,  248, 
259,  etc.  Here  belongs  also  the  “ prophet  of  the  Ilorus,  who  is  in  the  palace,”  ib.  228. 

6 Prophetess  of  Tholh,  Mar.  Mast.,  183;  of  ’Epuat,  ib.  162;  of  the  king,  ib.  90. 

7 Prophetess  of  Neit,  ib.  90,  162,  201,  262,  etc.,  of  Hathor,  ib.  90,  107,  162,  201,  etc. 

8 An  official  therefore  is  rarely  ue‘b  of  a god  (Mar.  Mast.,  295),  but  always  prophet. 

9 Mar.  Mon.  div.,  18;  Mar.  Mast.,  149.  Perhaps  also  Mar.  Mast.,  140. 


XII 


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291 


of  Memphis  however,1  who  served  the  Egyptian  Hephaistos,  the  “ Ptah 
who  creates  works  of  art,”  2 is  styled  the  “ Chief  leader  of  artists,”  as  if  the 
temple  were  the  workshop  of  the  god,  and  he  his  chief  assistant."  Similar 
titles  were  doubtless  borne  by  the  high  priests  of  all  the  greater  temples, 
though  we  cannot  always  identify  them  under  the  Old  Empire.4 

Under  the  Old  Empire,  as  well  as  to  a certain  degree  under  the 
Middle  Empire,  the  laity  took  an  active  share  in  public  worship.  In  the 
temples  of  the  jackal-headed  gods  ’Epuat  and  Anubis  at  Siut,  we  find  at 
this  time,  besides  the  official  priesthood,  an  “ hour  priesthood,” 0 i.e.  a 
brotherhood  of  pious  laymen,  who  seem  to  have  delegated  one  of  their 
number  every  month  to  the  service  of  their  god,”  whilst  they,  as  a body, 
took  part  in  the  processions  on  great  festival  days.'  They  had  no  share 
in  the  temple  property  or  revenues, 15  and  if  the  citizens  of  Siut  gave  them 
a present  from  the  first  fruits  of  their  fields,  the  gift  was  dictated  purely 
by  private  piety.1' 

The  same  arrangement  was  in  existence  at  the  great  temple  of  Osiris 
at  Abydos,  where,  besides  the  five  appointed  priests,  there  were  many 
prophets  ; 10  these  formed  the  “ hour  priesthood.”  11  Though,  as  under  the 
Old  Empire,  these  laymen  might  take  part  in  the  temple  worship,  yet, 
apparently,  they  had  already  forfeited  much  of  the  original  dignity  of 
their  position  in  the  temple.  There  is  not  one  of  the  higher  officials  of 
the  Middle  Empire  whose  tomb  remains  to  us  (and  their  number  is  legion), 
who  has  thought  it  worth  while  to  tell  posterity  that  he  had  been  a prophet 
in  this  or  that  temple.  Indeed,  had  we  not  expressly  learned  of  the 
existence  of  the  hour  priesthood  from  the  above-mentioned  inscription, 
we  should  have  concluded,  from  the  study  of  the  other  material  we  possess, 
that  the  lay  element  had  already  been  as  jealously  excluded  from  the 
temple  worship  as  it  was  afterwards  under  the  New  Empire. 

The  great  nobles,  the  nome  princes,  form  an  exception  to  this  rule  ; 
they  state  expressly  in  the  long  list  of  their  antique  titles  that  they  served 
as  priests  the  god  of  their  nome.12  It  was  also  customary  in  these  families 
that  the  women  should  dedicate  themselves  as  priestesses  to  the  goddess 
Hathor.13 

The  priesthood  proper  of  a god,  in  contradistinction  to  the  hour 
priesthood,  his  “ officials,” 14  ‘ J I]  rp>  qnbt , formed  a small  col- 

(VWM  U III 

1 Mar.  Mast.,  74  ff.,  112  ft.,  123,  157  ; R.  J.  H.,  93-95.  2 Stele  of  Kuban,  1.  19. 

3 He  works,  in  fact,  with  his  artists  for  the  king  ; cp.  Mar.  Mast.,  204,  205. 

4 The  possession  and  use  of  a high  priestly  title,  such  as  the  above,  was  a proof  of  the  ancient 
dignity  of  a temple  ; the  fact  that  the  Theban  Amon  had  originally  only  a “ first  prophet  ” shows 
the  late  date  at  which  this  god  rose  to  importance. 

5 Cp.  A.  Z.,  1882,  163  ; Brugsch,  Die.  Suppl.,  318,  has  recognised  the  meaning  of  the  word. 

6 A.  Z.,  1882,  180. 

7 In  the  contracts  at  Siut  their  presence  in  the  temple  at  certain  festivals  seems  to  have  been  an 

understood  thing,  e.g.  ib. , 167.  8 lb.,  163.  9 lb.,  169,  180. 

10  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  71 1.  11  A similar  priesthood  is  mentioned,  Louvre,  C.  12  (L.  A.). 

12  Thus  at  Beni  Hasan:  L.  D.,  ii.  121,  143  g;  at  Bersheh  : ib.  134  c,  135  a-d.  ; at  Siut: 
R.  J.  II.,  285,  286,  290;  Mar.  Mon.  div.,  68  a. 

13  L.  D.,  ii.  143  g;  R.  J.  H.,  293. 


14  A.  Z.,  1882,  163. 


292 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


legiate  assembly  at  each  temple,  membership  being  hereditary  from  father 
to  son.1  The  prince  of  each  respective  nome  officiated  as  chief,  and 
always  bore  the  title  of  “ superintendent  of  the  prophets.”  At  the  same 
time  the  superintendence  exercised  by  the  prince  was  often  only  nominal, 
for  many  princes  state  expressly  that  they  have  really  exercised  this  office." 
It  was  also  not  sufficient  in  itself  to  be  the  son  of  a nomarch  and  high  priest 
in  order  to  succeed  to  the  priestly  office  of  the  father  ; for  though  the 
priestly  rank  may  have  been  hereditary,  yet  the  distinct  degree  of  rank 
was  certainly  not  so,3  at  the  same  time  we  may  be  sure  that  neither  the 
Pharaoh  nor  the  priests  themselves  would  lightly  pass  over  the  richest  and 
most  distinguished  member  of  the  college  in  the  choice  of  their  chief. 

It  sometimes  happened  that  a prince,  in  whose  town  several  temples 
were  situate,  belonged  at  the  same  time  to  the  priesthood  of  these  various 
temples.4  He  also  frequently  held  several  appointments  in  the  same 
temple  ; for  instance,  he  might  be  at  the  same  time  “ Superintendent  of 
the  prophets,”  “ Superintendent  of  the  temple,”  and  “ Superintendent  of 
the  oxen  of  the  god.”  5 

The  official  staff  of  a temple  consisted,  as  we  have  said  before,  of  com- 
paratively few  persons,  at  Siut  for  instance  of  ten  ; 11  at  Abydos,  as  it 
appears,  of  only  five  priests.'  Each  of  these  had  his  own  special  title  ; thus 
the  collegiate  assembly  of  the  Osiris  of  Abydos  was  composed  of 
“ The  great  Ue‘b,”  i.e.  the  high  priest,8 
The  treasurer  of  the  god, 

The  scribe  of  the  god’s  house, 

The  reciter-priest, 

The  Mete-en-sa .” 

At  the  temple  of  ’Epuat  at  Siut  however,  as  well  as  in  other  places, 
we  find  a “Superintendent  of  the  storehouse”  ; a “Superintendent  of  the 
house  of  worship  ” ; a “ Scribe  of  the  house  of  the  god”;  a “ Scribe  of  the 
altar,”  and  others.  We  see  that  these  titles  are  generally  derived  from  the 
business  duties  which  the  priests  exercised  in  the  administration  of  the 
temple  property,  but  it  would  be  a mistake  to  suppose  that  they  were 
merely  administrative  officials  of  the  sanctuary.  On  the  contrary,  they 
are  priests  par  excellence : “ I am  the  son  of  a priest  like  each  of  you,” 
said  Hapd'efan’e,  the  nomarch  of  Siut,  to  the  priests,  in  order  to  demon- 
strate unquestionably  his  priestly  rank.9 

This  close  connection  of  the  official  staff  to  the  temple  is  also  borne 
out  by  the  fact  that  the  members  enjoyed  certain  claims  on  the  revenues 
of  the  god.  The  worth  of  the  natural  products  that  comes  out  to  them 
• 

1 A.  Z.,  1882,  171,  where  in  the  translation  of  1.  28,  we  ought  to  read  “son  of  a priest.” 
Also  17 1,  176,  178,  where  the  priesthood  is  expressly  stated  to  be  inherited  from  the  father. 

2 Mar.  Mon.  div.,  68  c;  R.  J.  H.,  284.  a A.  Z.,  1882,  162  note. 

4 Mar.  Mon.  div.,  68  a.  L.  D.,  ii.  142  c. 

6 Thus  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  637.  Similarly  L.  D.,  ii.  12 1,  and  frequently. 

6 A.  Z.,  1882,  173.  7 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  71 1. 

8 That  this  title  was  given  to  the  “Superintendent  of  the  prophets”  of  Abydos  is  attested  by 
Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  742,  and  Leyden,  v.  4.  9 A.  Z.,  1882,  171. 


XII 


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293 


(to  retain  an  Egyptian  expression),  is  certainly  not  much,  if  we  may  judge 
by  what  they  received  in  the  temple  of  Siut.  In  the  latter  temple,  the 
yearly  salary1  of  each  member  of  the  staff  was  valued  at  about  360  jugs 
of  beer,  900  loaves  of  white  bread,  and  36,000  ash-baked  cakes  of  little 
worth  ; this  came  to  such  an  insignificant  sum  that  the  recipient  might  sell 
it  for  one  daily  lamp-wick,  such  as  were  used  in  funerary  worship.  In  fact, 
a high  priest  of  Siut  thought  nothing  of  renouncing  the  rations  due  to 
himself  and  his  heirs  for  twenty-seven  days  in  each  year,  i.e.  sacrificing 
a twelfth  part  of  his  priestly  income  in  exchange  for  some  very  trifling 
benefits  for  his  funerary  festivals.2 

We  may  conclude,  judging  from  the  small  stipends  allowed  to  the 
priests  of  so  considerable  a town  as  the  ancient  Siut,  that,  even  under 
the  Middle  Empire,  the  part  played  by  the  priests  was  of  little  import- 
ance. The  great  rise  of  the  priesthood  to  be  the  most  important 
factor  in  the  kingdom  dates  from  the  complete  revolution  of  ancient  con- 
ditions which  took  place  under  the  18th  dynasty.  I have  already  (p.  105) 
shown  that  the  evidence  of  this  rise  of  the  priesthood  is  especially  found  in 
one  place  in  Egypt.  In  the  cemetery  at  Abydos,  where,  under  the  Middle 
Empire,  very  few  priests  or  temple  officials  were  interred,  we  find  that, 
without  exaggeration,  25  per  cent  of  those  buried  there  under  the  New 
Empire  belonged  to  the  priestly  class  ; moreover  if  the  latter  held  a state 
appointment  in  addition,  it  was  evidently  considered  as  secondary  to  their 
position  in  the  temple.3 

The  ruling  part  played  by  the  priesthood  under  the  New  Empire 
necessarily  brought  about  a great  modification  in  the  constitution  of  that 
body.  The  position  of  the  priesthood,  in  fact,  changed  essentially,  though 
not  equally  so  in  all  the  temples.  The  old  conditions  were  retained 
longer  in  the  smaller  country  sanctuaries,  and  in  the  large  ancient  temples, 
than  in  those  temples  of  the  new  capital  which  rapidly  rose  to  importance 
and  did  not  possess  old  traditions.4 

It  is  not  the  place  here  to  investigate  the  various  differences  between 
the  priests  of  the  individual  temples  under  the  New  Empire.  It  is  sufficient 
for  our  purpose  to  consider  the  circumstances  of  those  ecclesiastics  who 
took  precedence  in  the  country,  and  of  whom  we  have  most  knowledge. 

We  know  very  little  of  the  priests  of  Amon  of  old  times,5  but  under 
the  New  Empire  there  were  five  degrees  of  rank  amongst  the  officials  of 
that  god;'1  the  first,  second,  and  third  prophets,  the  divine  father,  and  the 

1 A.  Z.,  1S82,  172.  2 A.  Z.,  1882,  171,  176,  178. 

3 Examples  of  these  double  appointments  are  found  : firstly,  in  the  case  of  high  priests  (L.  D., 
iii-  237,  a.  b. , Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  408) ; secondly,  in  the  case  of  a few  others  who  superintend  the 
temple  estates  (Lieblein,  1S7,  666,  904;  L.  D.,  iii.  26,  1 d). 

4 We  may  specify  here  that  the  hour  priesthood  mentioned  at  Abydos  under  the  18th  dynasty 
(R.  J.  H.,  21,  14),  we  only  meet  with  in  other  places  at  a later  period.  It  is  a matter  of  course 
that  a title  such  as  that  of  the  high  priest  of  Memphis  remained  unchanged. 

5 Under  the  Middle  Empire,  a second  prophet  is  mentioned  (Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  389),  also  a Ue‘b 
(ib.  745),  and  a hri  sgr  (ib.  393)  of  Amon. 

6 Expressly  mentioned  on  the  statue  of  Bekenchons.  Cp.  also  the  account  in  the  Tap.  Berk, 
47  (A.  Z.,  1879,  72). 


294 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAf. 


Ue‘b  ; the  latter  also  officiated  in  his  temple  as  reciter-priest.1  The  age  at 
which  a priest,  if  he  were  fortunate,  might  attain  to  these  various  degrees  of 
rank,  is  shown  by  the  biography  of  the  high  priest  Bekenchons,  who  served 
and  died  under  Ramses  II.2  From  his  fifth  to  his  fifteenth  year  he 
received  a military  education  in  one  of  the  royal  stables  ; at  the  age  of 
sixteen  he  entered  the  service  of  Amon  as  Ue‘b.  He  held  this  inferior 
rank  till  the  age  of  twenty,  after  which  he  officiated  as  divine  fattier  for 
twelve  years.  When  he  was  thirty-two  he  entered  the  order  of  prophets  ; 
for  fifteen  years  he  served  as  third,  and  for  twelve  years  as  second  prophet. 
Finally,  in  his  fifty-ninth  year,  the  monarch  raised  him  to  be  “ first  prophet 
of  Amon  and  chief  of  the  prophets  of  all  the  gods.”  Every  one  was  not 
so  fortunate,  for  many  a rich  and  distinguished  Egyptian  died  as  Ue‘b,  or 
as  “divine  father,”  without  attaining  any  higher  rank.3  It  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  possible  to  dispense  with  serving  in  the  lower  ranks,  for  even 
the  highest  ecclesiastics  note  them  down  in  their  list  of  titles,4  and  the 
sons  of  the  high  priests  begin  their  career  as  Ue‘b.5 

It  follows  that  individual  priestly  dignities  were  not  hereditary,  and 
it  is  to  be  regarded  merely  as  nepotism  when  we  frequently  find  the  son 
succeeding  his  father  in  his  office  of  first  prophet.0  The  priesthood  itself  was 
also  no  longer  as  a rule  hereditary,  for  we  find  sons  of  priests  as  super- 
intendent officials,  and  sons  of  officials  as  priests.'  The  members  of  one 
and  the  same  family  also  often  served  different  gods,s  showing  that  the 
priesthood  was  regarded  as  any  other  profession,  in  which  it  was  of  the 
first  importance  to  gain  a good  livelihood,  irrespective  of  any  particular 
temple. 

We  do  not  know  what  were  the  respective  functions  of  the  various 
priests  of  Amon,  we  only  know  that  amongst  other  duties  the  second 
prophet  had  the  superintendence  of  the  artists  of  the  temple.1 7 8 9'  The 
high  priest  however,  the  “ first  prophet,  was  a good  father  to  his  sub- 
ordinates, he  educated  their  youth,  he  stretched  out  his  hand  to  those  on 
the  road  to  ruin,  he  maintained  the  life  of  those  in  need,”  10  but  the  first 
duty  of  the  high  priest,  who  lived  under  these  great  royal  builders,  was 
to  direct  the  buildings  for  the  enlargement  of  the  temple.  He  had  to 

1 Both  titles  expressly  connected  in  the  tomb  of  Paser  (Sheikh  Alxl-elqurna,  Dyn.  19  ; from  my 
own  copy),  in  the  case  of  his  second  son.  Cp.  also  Lieblein,  606  (ue'b  and  % rhb),  where  similar 
lists  of  titles  (L.  D.,  iii.  200  a,  237  e)  only  mention  the  ue‘b. 

- On  his  statue  in  the  Glyptothek  at  Munich. 

3 E.g.  the  divine  father  Nefrhotp,  whose  beautiful  tomb  is  at  Sheikh  Abd-elqurna  ; the  tomb 
of  ‘Ey,  who  became  king  when  holding  and  retaining  that  rank,  and  others. 

4 Thus  the  high  priest,  L.  D.,  iii.  237  c (Liebl.,  559),  and  the  second  prophet  (Liebl.,  606). 

5 Thus  the  high  priest  just  mentioned,  Rome,  son  of  Roy  (L.  D. , iii.  237  c). 

6 In  addition  to  those  mentioned  in  the  above  note,  Amenhotep,  ib.  1.  1.  e.  Also  the  two, 
L.  D.,  iii.  62  b. 

7 The  governor,  Paser,  mentioned  in  a preceding  note,  was  for  instance  the  son  of  a first 
prophet,  and  a son  of  Paser  again  became  Ue‘b. 

8 Cp.  e.g.  the  four  high  priests  of  the  various  gods,  Liebl.,  905,  or  the  instance,  ib.  5S5,  in 
which  the  father  served  Amon,  the  son  Osiris. 

9 Tomb  of  the  second  prophet,  Pu’em-re‘,  at  Assasif,  of  the  18th  dynasty  (in  part,  L.  D.,  iii.  39  c). 

Also  Amh.,  4,  4,  of  the  20th  dynasty.  10  Biography  of  Bekenchons. 


XII 


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295 


“do  splendidly  in  his  temple  as  great  superintendent  of  the  works,”  1 even 
if  he  delegated  the  direction  of  the  building  itself  to  other  special  officials. 
In  addition,  he  was  general  of  the  troops  of  the  god,  and  governed  his 
“ house  of  silver.” 2 The  position  the  high  priests  of  Arnon  attained, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  the  temple  they  governed  was  by  far  the  largest  and 
the  richest  in  Egypt,  must  have  been  very  abnormal  ; it  was  therefore  the 
more  dangerous  for  the  state  when  the  kings  of  the  New  Empire,  contrary 
to  true  political  principles,  made  the  other  temples  also  subordinate  to 
them.  The  first  prophet  of  Amon  became,  not  only  “ superintendent  of 
the  prophets  of  the  gods  of  Thebes,”  but  also  “ superintendent  of  the 
prophets  of  all  the  gods  of  the  South  and  of  the  North,”  2 in  other  words, 
the  whole  priesthood  of  the  Egyptian  temples  was  subject  to  him.4  The 
state  seems  even  to  have  taken  care  to  humble  the  other  temples  and 
make  them  dependencies  of  the  temple  of  Amon,  for  we  repeatedly  find 
that  the  dignity  of  high  priest  in  other  temples  was  given  to  some 
member  of  the  collegiate  body  at  Thebes  ; eg.  a first  prophet  of  Amon 
was,  at  the  same  time,  high  priest  of  Memphis;5  a second  prophet  of 
Amon,  high  priest  of  Heliopolis,5  and  a chief  superintendent  of  the  oxen 
of  the  Theban  god  was  high  priest  of  Anhor.' 

We  have  seen  that,  under  the  New  Empire,  the  lay  element  almost 
disappeared  from  the  priesthood  ; at  that  period  however  it  came  forward 
so  much  the  more  in  another  branch  of  public  worship.  In  all  temples, 

but  above  all  in  that  of  Amon,  we  find  female  singers  (or 

rather  musicians , as  we  might  perhaps  translate  the  word),  and  indeed  in 
great  numbers.  We  scarcely  meet  with  one  lady,  under  the  New  Empire, 
whether  she  were  married  or  unmarried,8  the  wife  of  an  ecclesiastic  or 
layman,  whether  she  belonged  to  the  family  of  a high  priest  9 or  to  that 
of  an  artisan,10  who  was  not  thus  connected  with  a temple.  This  institution 
of  singers  was  remarkable  however  for  the  singular  idea  associated  with 
it.  The  god  was,  in  fact,  regarded  as  an  earthly  prince,  and  the  singers, 
who  made  music  in  his  presence,  were  the  beautiful  singers,  the  inmates  of 
the  house  of  women.  The  singers  formed  the  harem  of  the  god,11  and 

I Biography  of  Bekenchons.  - L.  D. , iii.  200  a. 

3 Thus  in  the  tomb  of  the  father  of  the  above-mentioned  Paser,  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  408;  Liebh, 
559;  L.  D.,  iii.  200  a.  Statue  of  Bekenchons. 

4 The  servants  “of  all  the  gods”  (without  the  words  “of  the  South  and  North”),  only  known 
to  us  from  Abydos,  viz.  a divine  father  (at  the  same  time  first  prophet  of  Osiris,  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab., 
1086),  a superintendent  of  the  fields  (at  the  same  time  second  prophet  of  Anhor,  ib.  372),  a super- 
intendent of  the  singers  (ib.  1159),  and  a scribe  of  the  sacrifices  (ib.  1128),  serve  “all  the  gods”  of 
this  town  ; see  also  Maspero,  Guide,  p.  286. 

5 Sent  of  Ptah,  title  of  Neb-notru  in  the  tomb  of  Paser. 

b Statue  of  Amen ‘anen  at  Turin,  incompletely  given,  Liebl.,  606.  7 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1144. 

8 The  latter,  e.g.  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1179.  11  Liebl.,  905. 

Four  daughters  of  an  artist,  Liebl.,  944  : the  wife  of  a shoemaker,  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1174;  wives 
of  weavers,  ib.  1175,  11S7. 

II  It  follows  that  the  higher  rank  (the  chief  concubine)  requires  the  existence  of  lower  concubines  ; 
the  latter  are  represented  by  the  singers,  who  evidently  belong  to  the  lower  rank  ; Abb.,  3,  17,  says 
expressly  that  the  singers  belonged  to  the  house  of  the  earthly  consort  of  the  god. 


296 


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CHAP. 


///I 

uM 

they  held  various  degrees  of  rank  as  in  an  earthly  harem  ; certain  women 
of  high  rank  had  the  honour  of  bearing  the  splendid  title  of  “ chief 
concubine  ” of  the  god.1  At  the  head  of  the  mystical  harem  at  Thebes 
there  stood  the  legitimate  consort,2  called  the  “ wife  of  the  god,”  the  “ hand 
of  the  god,”  or  the  “ adorer  of  the  god,”  and  to  her  house 
belonged  the  singers.3  This  lady,  usually  the  queen 
herself,  represented  the  heavenly  consort  of  Amon,  the 
goddess  Mut,  and  to  her  therefore  belonged  special  high 
honours  which  seem  sometimes  to  have  even  given  her 
a political  importance.  Later,  under  the  Saites,  we  find 
these  women  nominally  rulers  of  Thebes,  and  there  are 
many  indications  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  1 8th 
dynasty  they  held  a similar  position.  At  public  worship 
their  duty  was  to  play  the  sistrum  before  the  god  ; 
probably  there  was  not  much  more  for  them  to  do  in 
their  official  capacity,  for  we  find  that  a child  could  be 
invested  with  this  high  rank.  The  wife  of  the  god 
possessed  also  a large  property,  administered  by  a 
“ great  man  of  the  house.” 

Before  I pass  on  to  describe  the  worldly  possessions 
of  the  ecclesiastical  profession,  their  property,  and  its 
administration,  I will  make  a few  remarks  on  the 
vestments  of  the  priests,  the  history  of  which  corrobo- 
rates well  what  I have  said  above  of  the  development 
of  a special  rank  of  priesthood  under  the  New  Empire. 

The  priesthood  of  the  Old  Empire  do  not  seem  to  have  been  dis- 
tinguished by  a characteristic  dress  ; all  the  priests,  even  the  high 
priests  of  Memphis  and  Heliopolis,  wore,  as  a rule,  exactly  the  same 
costume  as  other  people.  A few,  as  the  high  priest  of  Ptah,4  wore  badges 
while  exercising  their  office  ; others,  as  the  priests  of  the  dead,  or  the  Ue‘b,  ' 
wore  their  usual  dress  and  coiffure  even  whilst  they  officiated.  Under 
the  Middle  Empire  however  we  see  that  the  officiating  priest,  at  the 
funeral  sacrifice  of  the  nomarch  Chnemhotep,  wears  a skirt  of  more  ancient 
fashion  than  the  others  who  are  present,  and  this  tendency  is  more  ob- 
servable when  we  come  to  the  priestly  costume  under  the  New  Empire. 
During  the  latter  period  the  servants  of  the  gods  seem  to  have  felt  that 
they  belonged  to  a special  caste,  that  the  chief  property  of  the  nation 
was  in  their  care,  and  that  therefore  it  was  no  longer  suitable  that  they 
should  follow  the  secular  vagaries  of  fashion.  The  priests  never  wore 
the  mantle  or  double  dress  ; they  wore  the  simple  plain  skirt  of  former 
times,  doubtless  because  it  appeared  to  them  that  true  piety  flourished  best 


THE  SINGER  TACH'A, 
SISTER  OF  PENNUT, 
OFFICIAL  IN  THE 
NUBIAN  DEPART- 
MENT ; 

She  is  carrying  the  sis- 
trum, the  instrument 
of  temple  music 
(Dyn.  XX.,  L.D., 
231  a). 


1 The  members  of  the  family  of  a high  priest,  L.  D.,  iii.  132  q ; Liebl.,  991  ; of  other  dis- 
tinguished families,  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1137.  1139. 

2 Cp.  my  remarks  in  Sweinfurth’s  pamphlet,  “ Alte  Baureste  im  Uadi  Gasus,”  in  the  Transactions 

of  the  Berlin  Academy,  18S5.  3 Abb.,  3,  17. 

4 Mar.  Mast.,  74.  75.  5 L.  D.,  ii.  10  and  often  ; ib.  68. 


XII 


RELIGION 


297 


during  those  old  periods.  Men  of  ; 
past,  and  even  our  ecclesiastics  are 
Church  history  as  a period  when  pu 
the  same  costume  as  their  fore- 
fathers of  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  priests  of  the  New  Empire 
showed  that  they  were  the  disciples 
of  past  pious  ages  by  their  dress, 
which  they  wore  in  private  life 
even  at  feasts  ; 1 2 the  high  priests 
alone  may  have  been  allowed  to 
wear  ordinary  dress.1’  The  details 
of  the  costume  vary  a good  deal, 
probably  according  to  the  rank  or 
the  special  duties  of  the  wearer. 
Many  are  represented  wearing 
the  narrow  short  skirt,  common  at 
the  beginning  of  the  4th  dynasty  ; 3 
others  the  long  wide  skirt,  such 
as  was  usually  worn  under  the 
Middle  Empire.4 * *  Some  wound  a 
scarf  round  the  upper  part  of  the 
body  ; u others  put  on  over  the 
skirt  a curious  wide  cape  which 
reached  to  below  the  arms  ; '*  others 
(like  the  singer  represented,  p.  2 5 2), 
wrapped  the  whole  body  in  a 
great  cloak.*  We  see  that  the 
Sem  at  the  funeral  sacrifice  wears 
a panther,  skin®  as  does  also  the 
high  priest  of  Heliopolis,  who  as 
“ Chief  of  the  secrets  of  heaven,” 
has  the  skin  adorned  with  stars.1' 
Finally,  the  chief  priest  of  Mem- 
phis, under  the  1 8th  and  1 9th 
dynasties,  wore  round  his  neck 
as  his  badge  of  office  the  same 
curious  ornament  that  was  worn 
dynasty.10 


ill  ages  have  woven  a halo  round  the 
vont  to  regard  the  early  centuries  of 
er  faith  reigned  ; they  also  still  wear 


STATUE  OF  AMEN'ANEN,  HIGH  PRIEST  OF  HELIO- 
POLIS,  AND  SECOND  PROPHET  OF  AMON  UNDER 
AMENHOTEP  III. 

(Turin  Museum.) 

bv  the  same  official  under  the  4th 


1 Wall  picture  in  Brit.  Mus.,  see  pi.  opposite  p.  248. 

2 L.  IX,  iii.  174,  175,  and  the  Turin  statue  here  represented. 

3 See  the  above-mentioned  wall  picture.  4 L.  D. , iii.  12S  b,  162. 

5 Thus  the  high  priests,  L.  D.,  iii.  128  b.  Cp.  also  p.  150. 

8 L.  D.,  iii.  14.  Cp.  also  p.  276.  7 * In  the  same  way  the  temple  servants,  L.  D.,  iii.  94. 

8 Passim.  Also  under  the  M.  E.  : L.  D. , ii.  127.  9 See  the  accompanying  illustration. 

10  O.  E.  : Mar.  Mast.,  74,  75.  Statue  of  Ra‘nofer  at  Gizeh  (975).  N.  E.  : Statue  of  Ptahmose 

at  Florence  (Catal.  gener..  i.  197).  Relief  of  Cha-‘em-uese  at  the  Louvre  (Revillout,  Setna,  frontis- 

piece). 


298 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Whilst  the  dress  of  the  priests  varied  in  so  many  particulars,  the  custom 
of  shaving  the  head  seems  to  have  been  common  amongst  all  the  ecclesi- 
astics of  the  New  Empire.  They  shaved  doubtless  from  reasons  of 

cleanliness,  as  Herodotos  clearly 
states.  Men  of  other  profes- 
sions, as  we  have  related  in  the 
tenth  chapter,  cut  their  hair 
very  short,  and  wore  artificial 
coiffures.  The  priests,  on  the 
other  hand,  did  not,  even  when 
out  of  doors,  protect  their  bare 
heads  from  the  heat  of  the 
sun  ; 1 at  feasts  also  they  wore 
no  wigs,  though  they  anointed 
the  skin  of  their  heads  with 
oil,  like  the  other  guests  who 
wore  hair.2  This  was  the  cus- 
tom in  later  times,  but  under 
the  Old  Empire,  even  in  the 
manner  of  dressing  the  hair, 
there  existed  no  difference  be- 
tween the  clergy  and  the  laity,  they  all  wore  the  same  style  of  coiffure. 

The  priesthood  of  the  New  Empire  owed  their  great  power,  and  even 
their  final  triumph  over  the  king  himself,  chiefly  to  their  riches.  Their 
riches  were  due  for  the  most  part,  as  far  as  we  know,  to  royal  gifts,  for 
we  rarely  find  it  stated  that  a private  citizen  endowed  a building  to  the 
gods.3  All  the  kings,  from  the  very  oldest  period,  followed  the  same  fatal 
course  ; some  were  more  generous  than  others,  as  for  instance  the  pious 
kings  of  the  5th  dynasty;4  thus  even  under  the  Old  Empire  many  temples 
were  rich  enough  to  keep  their  own  military  force.5  The  Nubian  con- 
quests of  the  kings  of  the  12th  dynasty  opened  out  those  gold  districts  to 
Egypt,  and  the  temples  received  their  share  of  the  booty  ; for  instance, 
the  chief  treasurer  Ychernofret  was  sent  by  Usertsen  III.  on  a special 
mission  to  Abvdos,0  “ to  erect  monuments  to  his  father  Osiris,  the  god 
of  the  west,  and  to  adorn  the  most  secret  place  (i.e.  the  Holy  of 
Holies)  with  the  gold  which  His  Majesty  had  brought  in  victory  and 
triumph  from  Nubia.”  Ychernofret  obeyed  the  order  of  the  king  and 
endowed  the  barks  and  the  vessels  of  the  god  with  lapis-lazuli  and  mala- 
chite, with  electron  and  all  manner  of  noble  stones. 

1 E.g.  L.  D. , iii.  128  b.  - See  the  above-mentioned  London  wall-picture. 

:i  The  foundation  of  Der  el  Medlneh  (see  p.  148)  is  an  exception  in  point  ; cp.  also  L.  D.,  iii. 
236,  where  the  private  individual  H'eyna  is  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  temple  of  Amon. 

Under  the  New  Empire  there  is  no  mention  of  the  great  number  of  small  gifts,  which  we  find 
amongst  the  offerings  of  later  times. 

4 According  to  later  tradition  at  any  rate,  Pap.  Westcar,  9,  25  ff. 

5 Cp.  the  titles  of  the  high  priests  of  Heliopolis,  Mar.  Mon.  div. , 18.  Also  in  the  inscription  of 

Un’e  (A.  Z.,  1882,  14).  6 Stele  1204.  Ilerlin. 


SEKER-CHA ‘BAU,  THE  HIGH  PRIEST  OF  MEMPHIS. 
(After  Catal.  gener.  del  Museo  di  Firenze,  vol.  i.  p.  198.) 


XII 


RELIGION 


299 


The  golden  age  for  the  temples  however  began  with  the  Asiatic 
expeditions  of  the  1 8th  dynasty.  The  remains  of  an  inscription  at 
Karnak  1 give  us  an  idea  of  the  gifts  of  Thothmes  III.  to  Amon  : fields 
and  gardens  “ of  the  most  excellent  of  the  south  and  of  the  north  ” ; plots 
of  ground  in  a higher  situation,  “ overgrown  with  sweet  trees,”  milch  cows 
and  other  cattle,  quantities  of  gold  and  silver  and  lapis-lazuli.  In  addition, 
Asiatic  and  negro  prisoners,  at  least  878  souls,  men  and  women,  who 
were  to  fill  the  granaries  of  the  god,  spin,  weave,  and  till  the  ground  for 
him.  Finally,  Thothmes  III.  settled  upon  Amon  three  of  the  conquered 
towns,  ‘En’eugsa,  Yenu'amu,  and  Hurenkaru,  which  had  to  pay  a yearly 
tribute  to  the  god.  He  also  established  special  additional  sacrifices  for 
the  festival  days,  besides  richly  increasing  those  already  established.  In 
the  same  way  we  hear  that  Sety  I.  “ bestowed  upon  his  father  Amon  Re‘ 
all  the  silver,  gold,  lapis-lazuli,  malachite,  and  precious  stones,  which  he 
carried  off  from  the  miserable  country  of  Syria”;  and  as  the  picture  accom- 
panying this  inscription  shows,  lordly  vases  also  of  precious  metal  and  of 
curious  shapes  ; these  were  the  much-admired  productions  of  the  ancient 
Syrian  goldsmiths.2  In  addition  to  this  generous  present,  the  king  gave 
“ the  great  men  of  the  countries,  which  he  had  brought  in  his  hand,”  as 
slaves  for  the  storehouse  of  Amon.3  Each  king  of  the  New  Empire  boasts 
in  almost  identical  words  of  these  practical  proofs  of  his  piety;  we  might 
therefore  be  tempted  to  consider  this  constant  self-praise  of  the  Pharaohs, 
like  so  much  in  the  Egyptian  texts,  to  be  merely  empty  conventional 
phrases.  Our  incredulity  would  however,  in  this  case,  exceed  the  limits  of 
truth,  for  some  at  least  of  these  kings  gave  gifts  to  the  temples,  exceeding 
all  that  we  could  consider  probable.  The  happy  chance  which  has  pre- 
served to  us  the  so-called  “ great  Harris  Papyrus,”  allows  us  to  bring 
numerical  proofs  on  this  matter.  King  Ramses  IIP,  at  his  death,  left  a 
comprehensive  manifesto,  in  which  he  gave  full  details  of  all  that  he  had 
done  for  the  temples  of  his  country  during  the  thirty-one  years  of  his 
reign.  The  figures  in  these  lists  are  evidently  taken  from  the  account 
books  of  the  state  and  of  the  various  temples,  and  ought  therefore  to 
be  worthy  of  credence. 

This  great  papyrus  is  1 33  feet  long,  and  contains  79  pages  of  very  large 
size  ; it  is  divided  into  five  sections,  according  to  the  recipients  of  the  gifts. 
The  first  section  contains  the  gifts  to  the  Theban  temples  ; then  follow  the 
presents  to  Heliopolis,  to  Memphis  and  to  the  smaller  sanctuaries  of  the 
country  ; finally,  the  fifth  section  gives  the  sum  total  of  all  the  donations.4 
The  individual  sections  are  in  strict  order ; this  much  facilitates  our 
finding  our  way  through  the  long  lists  of  payments.  In  the  first  few 
pages  of  each  section  the  king  recounts  the  large  buildings,  the  lakes  and 
gardens  he  has  laid  out  for  each  respective  god  ; special  gifts  are  parti- 
cularly mentioned  here  beforehand,  without  specification  of  payments. 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  30  b.  2 L.  D.,  iii.  127  b.  3 L.  D.,  iii.  127  b,  129. 

4 Ilarr.  i.  1-23,  Thebes;  24-42,  Heliopolis;  43-56,  Memphis;  57-66,  smaller  temples;  67-74, 

total. 


300 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


The  second  rubric 1 gives  in  exact  figures  the  precise  presents  of  the 
king ; his  gifts  of  golden  vessels,  of  fields  and  vineyards,  of  slaves 
and  cattle.  The  third  rubric  2 contains  the  account  of  the  duties,  or  (as 

^ may  be  translated),  the  “work  of  the  subjects 

of  the  temple,  which  the  king  gives  to  them  as  their  yearly  income,”  the 
account  therefore  of  what  the  sanctuary  ought  to  receive  from  those  who 
had  to  pay  rent  to  the  temple  independently  of  the  monarch.  Finally,  the 
fourth  rubric3  shows  the  quantity  of  gold,  fabrics,  cattle,  corn,  incense,  etc., 
that  the  Pharaoh  gave  towards  the  sacrifices  of  the  god. 

I shall  now  give  a few  examples  from  the  fifth  section,  which,  as  I have 
said,  gives  the  total  sums  of  all  the  gifts  which  Ramses  III.  bestowed  upon 
the  various  places  of  worship  during  the  thirty-one  years  of  his  reign. 

The  following  may  be  mentioned  as  special  gifts  from  the  king  : 

169  towns  (nine  in  Syria  and  Ethiopia), 

1 1 3,433  slaves, 

493,386  head  of  cattle, 

1,071,780  plots  of  ground, 

5 1 4 vineyards  and  tree  gardens, 

88  barks  and  galleys, 

2,756  images  of  the  god  (containing  7,205  uten  and  1 qed  of 
gold,  and  1 1,047  uten  and  j qed  of  silver),4 
10,001  uten  and  8 qed  of  precious  black  bronze, 

97,148  uten  and  3 qed  of  embossed  bronze  vessels, 

47  uten  and  6 qed  of  lapis-lazuli, 

18,168  pieces  ( sic ) and  1 qed  of  various  precious  stones  ; 

etc. 

The  duties,  i.e.  the  charges  imposed  upon  the  temple  subjects,  were 
as  follows  : 

2,289  uten  4?,  qed  of  golden  vessels  and  ornaments, 

14,050  uten  2 qed  of  silver  vessels  and  ornaments, 

27,580  uten  of  bronze, 

4,575  robes,  finely  woven, 

3,795  uten  of  yarn, 

1,529  jars  of  incense,  honey,  and  oil, 

28,080  jars  of  wine  and  similar  drinks, 

4,204  uten  7-|  qed  of  silver,  the  worth  of  various  things  paid 
in  as  a tax, 


1 Thebes,  io-ii  ; Heliopolis,  31,  32  a 6 ; Memphis,  51  a — 51  b 2;  minor  gods,  61-62  a 10; 
total,  67-68  b 3. 

2 Thebes,  12  a-b  ; Heliopolis,  32  a,  7-32  b ; Memphis,  51  b,  3-52  a 3 ; minor  gods,  62  a,  1 1 - 1 3, 


without  special  rubric ; total,  68  b,  4-70  a 


The  word 


£ III 


signifies  here,  as 


always  in  later  times,  the  charges  imposed. 

3  Thebes,  13  a ff.  ; Heliopolis,  33  a ft'.  ; Memphis,  52  a 4 ff.  ; smaller  gods,  62  b ff;  total, 
70  a 2 ft.  4 One  uten  contains  91  g.  ; 1 qed,  9.1  g. 


XII 


RELIGION 


301 


460,700  sacks  of  corn,  the  duty  imposed  upon  the  labourers, 
326,995  geese,1  the  duty  imposed  upon  the  bird-catchers, 

961  oxen  from  Egyptian  herds, 

19  oxen,  the  duty  imposed  on  the  countries  of  the  Syrians, 

1 2 ships  of  precious  wood, 

78  ships  of  ordinary  wood  ; 
etc. 

For  the  sacrificial  funds  the  following  payments  were  made  from  the 
royal  treasury  : 

1,663  uten  of  golden  vases  and  ornaments, 

3,598  uten  8 qed  of  silver  vases  and  ornaments, 

30  uten  9I  qed  of  real  lapis-lazuli,  malachite,  and  ruby  (?), 

327  uten  9 qed  of  black  bronze, 

18,786  uten  7 qed  of  embossed  bronze  vases, 

50,877  robes,  finely  woven, 

331,702  jars  of  incense,  honey,  and  oil, 

35,130  jars  of  qadarut'e  incense, 

228,380  jars  of  wine  and  similar  drinks, 

1,075,635  amulets,  scarabaei,  and  seals  of  precious  stone, 

2,382,605  various  fruits, 

20,602  oxen  j 

367  gazelles  > of  various  kinds, 

3 5 3,719  geese  ) 

1,843  bags  j . , , 

7 , . . - of  salt  and  natron, 

3 5 5,084  bricks  J 

161,287  loaves  j 

25,335  loaves  j'  of  various  kinds  of  bread, 

6,272,42  1 loaves  ) 

285,385  cakes, 

466,303  jugs  of  beer, 

3,100  uten  of  wax, 

494,000  fish, 

19,130,032  bouquets  of  flowers, 

3,260  pieces  of  wood  for  fuel, 

3,367  lumps  of  coal, 

1 ,93 3,766  jars  of  incense,  honey,  oil,  fat,  etc., 

5,279,652  sacks  of  corn  ; 

etc. 

If  we  take  the  similar  items  of  the  presents,  duties,  and  sacrificial 
gifts,  and  reckon  them  together,  we  find  that,  for  the  thirty-first  year,  the 
sum  total  of  the  principal  items  for  the  Egyptian  temple  will  be  some- 
what as  follows  : 

1,015  kg-  336  g-  of  gold, 

2>993  kg.  964  g.  of  silver  and  silver  goods, 

1 The  writing  426,995  here  is  erroneous ; there  seem  also  to  be  other  small  errors  in  the  figures 
of  thejother  accounts. 


302 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


940  kg.  3 g.  of  black  bronze, 

13,059  kg.  865  g.  of  bronze, 

7 kg.  124  g.  of  precious  stones, 

1,093,803  valuable  stones, 

169  towns, 

1,071,780  plots  of  arable  ground, 

514  vineyards  and  gardens  of  trees, 

I 78  ships, 

1 13,433  slaves, 

514,968  head  of  cattle  (particularly  oxen), 

680,7  1 4 geese, 

494,800  fish, 

2,382,605  fruits, 

5,740,352  sacks  of  corn, 

6,744,428  loaves  of  bread, 

256.460  jars  of  wine, 

466,303  jugs  of  beer, 

368.46 1 jars  ) . , ... 

r r . !-  01  incense,  honey,  and  oil  ; 

l,933Jvo  jars  ) 

etc. 

In  order  to  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  very  large  sums  concerned, 
I may  remark  that,  though  the  value  of  metal  has  gone  down  so  much  at 
the  present  time,  yet  the  quantity  of  precious  metal  mentioned  here  would 
amount  to  about  .£200,000,  and  we  must  not  forget  that  the  same  six  or 
seven  million  Egyptians  who,  in  addition  to  taxes  paid  to  the  state, 
devoted  this  treasure  ad  majorem  dei  gloriam,  had  also  to  maintain  the 
temples  of  Medinet  Habu,  Karnak,  Tell  el  Yehudeh,  etc.  The  capacities 
of  this  small  country  were  indeed  much  overtaxed  for  the  unproductive 
purpose  of  temple  worship. 

These  conditions  were  rendered  most  unsound  by  the  unequal  distribu- 
tion of  the  treasure.  Had  all  the  temples  in  the  country  shared  alike, 
no  single  one  would  have  risen  to  excessive  power  and  riches.  From 
political  reasons  however,  Ramses  III.  also  endowed  one  temple  especially, 
the  same  in  fact  that  had  received  the  richest  gifts  from  his  predecessors. 
This  was  the  sanctuary  of  the  Theban  god  Amon,  who  bore  off  the  lion’s 
share  of  all  that  was  given  by  these  generous  monarchs.  For  instance, 
out  of  the  113,433  slaves  that  Ramses  presented  to  the  gods,  no  fewer 
than  86,486  fell  to  Amon  ; also  421,362  head  of  cattle  out  of  493,386  ; 
898,168  plots  of  land  out  of  1,071,780;  433  vineyards  out  of  514, 
and  so  forth;  the  2756  gold  and  silver  figures  of  the  gods  were  exclu- 
sively for  that  god,  as  well  as  the  9 foreign  towns  ; and  it  must  be  regarded 
as  exceptional  that  he  only  received  56  out  of  the  160  Egyptian  towns. 
We  shall  probably  be  quite  on  the  safe  side  if  we  reckon  that  three- 
quarters  of  all  the  royal  gifts  went  into  the  treasury  of  Amon.  Even 
the  Theban  deities  who  were  co-divinities  with  the  “ king  of  the  gods  ” 


XII 


RELIGION 


3°3 


had  to  content  themselves  with  a very  modest  share  ; the  god  Chons  and 
the  goddess  Mut  together  only  receiving  3908  slaves  out  of  the  86,486. 

The  earlier  kings  of  the  New  Empire  had  also  delighted  to  fill  the 
coffers  of  their  favourite  god  Amon,  who  thus  finally  possessed  property 
entirely  eclipsing  that  of  all  other  gods.  The  papyrus  of  Ramses  III. 
again  enables  us  to  prove  this  fact  by  figures.  I remarked  above  that, 
reckoned  together  with  the  royal  gifts,  are  the  duties  which  each  temple 
received  yearly  from  its  own  subjects.  These  were  the  duties  paid  by 
the  bondservants  of  the  temple,  the  artisans,  the  peasants  living  on  the 
temple  property,  and  the  shepherds  who  kept  the  temple  flocks  ; duties 
therefore,  which  represented,  for  the  most  part,  the  sum  for  which  the 
temple  property  was  leased,  and  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  rental  of 
the  temple  property,  thus  giving  us  an  idea  of  its  size.  In  the  following 
list  the  revenues  of  the  later  Theban  sanctuary  are  placed  side  by  side 
with  those  of  the  ancient  celebrated  temples  of  Heliopolis  and  Memphis, 
as  well  as  with  those  of  the  lesser  gods  of  Egypt. 


List  of  temple  revenues  of 

Thebes 

Heliopolis 

Memphis 

The  lesser 
gods 

Gold  articles  in  uten  .... 

569.6 

— 





Silver  „,,.... 

10964.9 

586. 3U 

98. 3 id 

— 

Bronze 

26329 

1260 

— 

— 

Fine  linen,  clothes  .... 

37  22 

1019 

i33d 

— 

Yarn,  in  uten  ..... 

3795 

— 

— . 

— 

Incense,  honey,  oil  in  jars  . 

1049 

482 

— 

— 

Wine,  etc.,  in  jars  .... 

Duties  imposed  on  the  people,  various 

25405 

2385 

390 

— 

objects,  worth  in  silver  uten 

3606. 1 

456.3d 

Mi-3 

— 

Taxes  on  the  labourers,  sacks  of  corn  . 

309950 

77100 

374oo 

73250 

Vegetables,  bundles  .... 

24650 

4800 

600 

3300 

Flax,  bundles  ..... 

64000 

4000 

— 

33°° 

Tax  from  the  bird-catchers,  geese 

289530 

37465 

— 



Oxen  from  the  Egyptian  herds 

849 

98 

I5i 

— 

,,  from  Syrian  herds 

17 

— 

— 

— 

Live  geese ...... 

544 

548 

135 

— 

Barks  of  rare  wood  .... 

1 2 

1 

— 



,,  of  ordinary  wood 

3i 

7 

— 

— 

If  we  compare  these  figures,  it  is  impossible  to  have  any  doubt  that 
under  the  20th  dynasty  Amon  of  Thebes  possessed  at  least  five  times  as 
much  property  as  the  sun-god  of  Heliopolis,  and  ten  times  as  much  (and 
probably  much  more)  as  Ptah  of  Memphis.  Yet  both  the  last-mentioned 
gods  were  formerly  the  chief  and  the  richest  gods  in  the  whole  country. 

The  enormous  properties  belonging  to  the  temples  required  of  course 
a far  more  complicated  machinery  for  their  administration  than  had  been 
necessary  for  the  more  modest  possessions  of  the  old  sanctuaries.  Under 
the  Middle  Empire  certain  members  of  the  priestly  college  were  deputed  to 
manage  the  affairs  of  the  treasury,  the  commissariat  and  the  correspond- 
ence ; 1 the  work  of  these  departments  not  being  heavy  was  easily  despatched, 

1 See  the  remarks  above  on  the  qnbt  of  Abydos  and  Siut. 


304 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


and  there  were  hardly  any  officials  in  these  temples  except  the  servants.1 
Under  the  New  Empire  it  was  quite  otherwise;  the  priests  were  no  longer 
able  to  do  the  work  of  administration  alone,  but  required  a host  of  officials 
to  help  them.  This  was  the  case  in  all  temples,2  but  of  course  especially 
so  in  that  of  the  Theban  Amon.  This  god  possessed  a central  bureau 
for  the  administration  of  the  house?  i.e.  of  the  temple  property,  and  also 
special  departments  for  the  treasury,4  for  agriculture ,5  for  the  barns?  for 
the  cattle,'  and  for  the  peasants  ; ' and  each  of  these  departments  had  its 
superintendent,  who  was  of  princely  rank,9  as  well  as  its  scribes.  In  the 
temple  of  Amon  there  was  also  a chief  scribe  of  high  rank,  who  had  the 
care  of  the  title-deeds  of  the  sanctuary,10  and  as  in  a large  temple  under 
the  New  Empire  new  buildings  and  restorations  were  always  going  on,  the 
god  was  obliged  to  have  his  own  building  department,  which  was  over  all 
worksf  It  follows  as  a matter  of  course  that  the  needful  number  of 
artisans  and  artists  of  all  kinds  had  to  be  forthcoming,  from  the  painter 
to  the  stone-mason.12  In  order  to  maintain  order  in  the  temple  and  on 
the  property,  the  god  possessed  his  own  militia  with  chief  and  subordinate 
officers;12  and  as  many  secular  transactions  occurred  under  his  administra- 
tion, he  had  also  his  own  prison.14  We  know  little  of  the  great  staff  of 
lower  officials,  which  must  have  existed  under  these,  conditions,  for  this 
class  do  not  come  within  our  ken.  We  have  however  many  monuments 
of  people  like  the  “ superintendents  of  the  sacrificial  storehouse,”  1 ' “ door- 
keepers ” of  all  kinds,16  “ barbers,”  11  all  of  whom  must  to  a certain  extent 
have  lived  in  easy  circumstances. 

These  remarks  on  the  temple  administration  would  have  still  more 
interest  for  us  did  we  know  what  connection  existed  between  these 
various  offices,  and  how  it  comes  to  pass  that  we  find  some  at  one  time, 
others  at  another  time,  united  in  one  person.  It  is  easy  to  understand 


1 The  few  exceptions  that  I know  however  may  in  part  be  only  so  apparently;  see  above,  p.  104. 

2 Superintendent  of  the  property  of  Chons  : Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1153  ; Superintendent  of  the  pro- 
vision-house of  Ilorus,  ib.  430;  Superintendent  of  the  workmen  of  Min,  ib.  424;  temple  scribe  of 
I’tah,  ib.  1 1 3 1 ; Superintendent  of  the  oxen  of  Anhor,  ib.  1080,  etc. 

3 Superintendent,  L.  D.,  iii.  25,  26;  Harr.,  10,  8;  Abb.,  8 a,  25,  27  ; Liebl.,  610,  611,  666, 
838,  1044;  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1202;  Scribe  Liebl.,  641. 

4 Tomb  of  ’Enn’e  at  Sheikh  Abd-elqurna  ; L.  D.,  iii.  200  a. 

5 Liebl.,  624;  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1085. 

6 Superintendent:  Tomb  of  ’Enn’e,  L.  D.,  iii.  25  k.,  26.  “ Scribe  of  the  corn  accounts”:  L.  D., 
iii.  38  g. 

7 Chief  superintendent : Liebl..  904-997  ; Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1144.  Superintendent:  Liebl.,  187, 
620,  845,  995.  Scribe  of  the  accounts:  Liebl.,  663. 

8 L.  D.,  iii.  25,  38  g.  9 Harr.,  i.  10,  3. 

: tomb  of  Ramses  at  Dra-abulnega  ; Liebl.,  927. 

11  “Director  jj  of  the  works”:  Tomb  of ’Enn’e  at  Sheikh  Abd-elqurna  ; “Superintendent” 

of  the  same  : Liebl.,  946  ; L.  D.,  iii.  200  a.  Tomb  of  Ramses  at  Dra-abulnega. 

12  See  also  for  more  detail,  chap.  16. 

13  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1158.  Liebl.,  970;  ib.  967;  ib.  1186;  ib.  835;  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1063. 

14  Amh.,  4,  3.  15  Leibl.,  674.  18  Liebl.,  682,  686,  762,  802,  etc. 

17  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1079.  Cp.  also  Liebl.,  1245. 


XII 


RELIGION 


3°5 


that  the  high  priest  himself  should  nominally,  in  addition  to  the  high 
priesthood,  hold  one  or  other  important  office  ; but  it  is  not  clear,  for 
instance,  why  the  superintendence  of  the  buildings  was  at  one  time  held 
as  an  additional  appointment  by  the  chief  scribe,1  and  at  another  time  by 
the  superintendent  of  the  granaries  ; 2 this  is  the  more  obscure  because 
the  former  had  also  the  superintendence  of  the  cattle  of  the  god,  and 
the  latter  had  the  care  of  the  treasure-houses,  and  “sealed  all  the  con- 
tracts of  the  temple  of  Amon.”  It  is  a characteristic  fact  that  these 
high  temple  officials  were  also  frequently  officials  of  the  state  as  well  ; s 
the  gradual  change  of  government  from  the  old  monarchy  into  the  hier- 
archy of  the  2 1 st  dynasty,  when  the  power  was  vested  in  the  high  priests 
of  Amon,  is  clearly  foreshadowed  in  this  plurality  of  appointments.  The 
royal  authority  did  not  however  submit  to  that  of  the  priests  without  a 
struggle,  and  it  may  be  that  the  Reformation  of  Chuen’eten,  as  well  as 
the  disturbances  at  the  close  of  the  19th  dynasty,  when  “no  sacrifices 
were  brought  into  the  temple,’’ 4 were  owing  in  great  part  to  the  efforts 
made  by  the  Pharaohs  to  stem  the  overwhelming  torrent  of  the  rising 
power  of  the  priesthood  of  Amon.  As  a matter  of  fact,  both  episodes 
served  only  to  defeat  their  own  object. 

1 Tomb  of  Ramses  at  Dra-abulnega.  2 Tomb  of ’Enn’e  at  Sheikh  Abd-elqurna. 

:!  Thus  the  Ramses  mentioned  above  ; the  superintendent  of  oxen:  Liebl.,  187,  904.  and  other 
examples.  4 Harr.,  i.  75,  6. 


X 


VASES  FOR  THE  RECEPTION  OF  THE  VISCERA  OF  THE  MUMMIES. 

The  covers  bear  the  heads  of  the  four  genii  under  whose  protection  the  viscera  were  placed. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  DEAD 

IN  the  preceding  chapter  we  discussed  the  practical  effect  of  religion 
on  the  life  of  the  nation  rather  than  the  religious  ideas  of  the  people 
themselves  ; in  like  manner  we  will  now  consider  what  the  Egyptians 
really  did  for  their  dead  rather  than  endeavour  to  comprehend  the  confused 
notions  which  they  held  as  to  the  life  after  death.  In  order  to  understand 
the  subject  we  must  however  first  make  a few  general  remarks  on  the 
future  state  of  the  deceased. 

From  the  earliest  ages  it  was  an  article  of  faith  amongst  the  Egyp- 
tians that  man  existed  after  death,  but  where  and  how  he  existed  was  not 
so  clear  to  their  minds.  Some  thought  that  he  was  to  be  found  amongst 
the  stars  in  the  sky,  others  that  he  sat  on  the  branches  of  the  trees  with 
the  birds,  and  others  that  he  remained  on  earth  where  his  bones  were  laid 
to  rest.  At  some  periods  of  their  history  they  believed  that  it  was  his 
special  privilege  to  appear  sometimes  in  one  form,  sometimes  in  another — 
one  day  as  a heron,  another  as  a cockchafer,  and  yet  another  as  a lotus- 
flower  on  the  water.  At  other  times  he  was  supposed  to  live  in  a kingdom 
of  light — the  duat , the  dwelling-place  of  the  gods,  who  travelled  with  the 
happy  dead,  “ on  those  beautiful  ways  where  the  glorified  travel.”  The 
peasants  believed,  on  the  other  hand,  that  he  went  to  the  fields  of  Earn, 
where  the  barley  and  the  spelt  grew  to  the  height  of  seven  cubits  ; that 
here  he  would  plough  the  land  and  reap  the  harvests,  and  when  tired  in 
the  evening,  he  would  sit  under  his  sycamore,  and  play  draughts  with  his 
companions. 

Yet  the  Egyptians  never  clearly  explained  how  the  various  parts  of  the 


CHAP.  XIII 


THE  DEAD 


307 


human  personality  were  connected  together  after  death.  They  did  not 
consider  man  as  a simple  individuality  ; he  consisted  of  at  least  three 

parts,  the  body  ^T  ',  the  soul  and  the  ghost,  the  image,  the  double, 

or  the  genius,  according  as  we  translate  the  Egyptian  word  [ j ka.  The 

latter  is  evidently  the  most  important;  it  is  an  independent  spiritual  being, 
living  within  the  man,  and  through  its  presence  bestowing  upon  the  man 
“protection,  intelligence,  purity,  health,  and  joy.”1  No  man  nor  god  was 
conceivable  without  his  ka,  which  grew  up  with  him  and  never  left  him. 
The  ka  of  a child  assumed  a childlike  appearance,  and  like  the  child  wore 
the  youthful  side-lock.  He  is  his  faithful  companion,  and  when  the  gods 
are  represented  bearing  the  new-born  prince  in  their  arms,  they  also  carry 
his  double  with  him. " 

In  sculptural  art  the  ka  is  distinguished  by  certain  character- 
istics, common  to  it  whether  it  is  represented  as  two  arms 3 without 
a body,  or  as  a complete  human  figure.4  These  characteristics  are 

a staff  and  the  sign  ( j,  the  former  bearing  the  head0  the  latter  the 

name  of  the  respective  man.  In  the  case  of  a private  individual  both  face 
and  name  are  the  same  as  those  belonging  to  his  human  body.  The  ka 
of  a king,  on  the  other  hand,  possesses  a special  sacred  appellation,  the 
so-called  Horus  name  ; thus  for  instance  the  “ living  ka  of  the  lord  of  the 
two  countries”  of  Thothmes  III.  is  called  “the  victorious  bull,  which 
shines  in  Thebes.” 

After  the  death  of  a man,  just  as  during  his  lifetime,  the  ka  was  still 
considered  to  be  the  representative  of  his  human  personality — it  is  not  clear 
to  us,  nor  perhaps  was  it  even  to  the  Egyptians,  what  part  the  “ living 
soul  ” played  in  the  matter.  The  ka  was  supposed  to  exist  after  death 
under  very  different  conditions  from  those  he  had  enjoyed  upon  earth ; it  was 
therefore  necessary  to  take  many  precautionary  measures  to  avoid  every 
mischance.  The  body  had  to  be  preserved  that  the  ka  might  take 
possession  of  it  when  he  pleased.  A statue  of  the  deceased  had  to  be  kept 
in  some  safe  place  that  the  ka  might  find  in  that  image  those  individual 
features  which  the  corpse  had  lost.  His  favourite  household  goods  had  to 
be  provided  for  him,  that  he  might  live  in  the  tomb  as  he  had  lived  on 
earth.  Finally  and  chiefly,  food  and  drink  had  to  be  placed  for  the  ka 
on  the  table  of  offerings  in  the  tomb,  for  otherwise  he  might  suffer  hunger 
and  thirst,  or  even,  so  the  Egyptians  thought,  be  obliged  to  feed  on  his 
own  excreta.  Though  these  conceptions  were  of  a very  vague  and  in 
many  ways  of  a very  contradictory  nature,  yet  they  exercised  an  immense 
influence  on  the  life  of  the  Egyptians.  In  consequence  of  this  belief  they 

] L.  D.,  iii.  35  b,  and  frequently.  - L.  D.,  iii.  75  a,  b. 

The  sign  j j doubtless  sprang  originally  from  the  representation  of  the  ka  by  two  arms. 

4 E.g.  L.  D. , iii.  34  b. 

° In  the  instances  before  us,  the  ka  represented  is  always  that  of  a king,  it  therefore  always 


3°8 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAT. 


mummified  their  bodies,  they  built  their  indestructible  tombs,  they 
established  endowments  for  the  sacrifices  for  the  dead,  they  preserved 
statues  and  household  goods  in  the  tombs, — in  short  it  is  to  their  faith  in 
the  ka  that  we  owe  all  our  knowledge  of  the  home  life  of  the  people. 

In  addition  to  the  above-mentioned  provisions  for  the  benefit  of  the 
deceased,  we  must  mention  one  of  peculiar  nature  resting  on  the  Egyptian 
belief  in  magic,  which  was  very  characteristic  of  that  nation.  Magical 
formulae  not  only  affected  the  living,  but  also  the  dead,  eg.  if  any  one 
repeated  the  following  words  in  a tomb  : “ An  offering  which  the  King 
gives,  an  offering  which  Anubis  gives,  thousands  of  bread,  beer,  oxen 
geese,  for  the  ka  of  N.  N.,”  he  would,  through  the  repetition  of  this 
formula,  ensure  to  the  deceased  the  enjoyment  of  these  funerary  meats. 
It  was,  therefore,  most  necessary  that  at  the  funerary  feast  a reciter-priest 
should  repeat  these  formulae,  and  the  inscriptions  also  conjure  each  later 
visitor  to  the  tomb,  by  what  he  holds  most  sacred,  by  his  children,  his 
office,  his  king,  and  by  the  god  of  his  home,  to  say  “ thousands  of  bread, 
beer,  oxen,  and  geese,”  on  behalf  of  the  deceased. 

There  was  a special  development  of  these  magical  formulae  in  early 
times.  As  the  reader  will  remember  from  the  foregoing  chapter,  the  people 
believed  that  Osiris  was  murdered  by  Set,  avenged  by  his  son  Horus, 
and  that  afterwards  he  rose  to  new  life.  A similar  fate  was  to  be  desired 
for  each  mortal  man  ; those  who  were  left  behind  hoped  that,  like  Osiris, 
the  deceased  would  rise  to  new  life  ; and  that  in  his  son,  who  took  care  of 
his  tomb  and  honoured  his  memory,  as  worthy  a successor  would  arise  as 
Horus  had  been  to  Osiris.  With  this  object  the  magical  formulae  recited 
in  the  tomb  were  composed  like  those  used  by  Horus  to  his  father  Osiris, 
in  the  belief  that  thus  it  would  go  as  well  with  the  deceased  as  formerly 
with  the  god  who  had  been  slain.  This  faith,  which  we  meet  with  every- 
where in  the  beginning  of  the  Old  Empire,  gave  the  characteristic  form  to 
all  the  customs  of  funerary  worship.  From  the  time  of  the  Middle  Empire 
the  deceased  is  addressed  directly  as  the  Osiris  N.  N.,  as  if  he  were  that 
god  himself ; and  the  epithet  is  always  added,  of  true  words , because  formerly 
the  zvords  of  Osiris  had  been  found  true  in  the  dispute  with  his  enemies. 
Anubis  is  represented  holding  his  body  as  he  had  held  that  of  Osiris, 
and  Isis  and  Nephthys  weep  for  him  as  if  he  himself  had  been  the  husband 
of  Isis.  These  conceptions  were  so  widespread  that  they  finally  reacted 
on  the  god  himself,  and  raised  him  to  an  importance  which  he  scarcely 
possessed  originally.  Before  all  other  gods  Osiris  became  the  god  of  the 
dead  ; even  Anubis,  the  protector  of  the  dead,  played  but  a secondary  part, 
— Osiris  was  the  king  of  the  realm  of  the  blessed. 

This  latter  favourite  idea  was  thus  further  developed  by  the  Egyptian 
imagination.  The  blessed  dead  were  supposed  to  form  the  nation  who 
worked  for  Osiris  and  were  governed  by  him  ; his  officers  were  composed 
of  terrible  demons,  who  guarded  his  gates,  or  who  sat  as  assessors  in  his  great 
hall  of  judgment.  In  this  hall  of  the  two  truths,  by  the  side  of  the  king 
of  the  dead,  there  squatted  forty-two  strange  daemonic  forms,  with  heads 


XIII 


THE  DEAD 


309 


of  snakes  or  hawks,  vultures  or  rams,  each 
holding  a knife  in  his  hand.  Before  these 
creatures,  eater  of  blood , eater  of  shadows, 
wry  head,  eye  of  flame,  breaker  of  bones,  breath 
of  flame,  leg  of  fire,  white-tooth,  and  others  of 
like  names,  the  deceased  had  to  appear  and 
confess  his  sins.  If  he  could  declare  that  he 
had  neither  stolen,  nor  committed  adultery,  nor 
reviled  the  king,  nor  committed  any  other  of 
the  forty-two  sins,  and  if  the  great  balance  on 
which  his  heart  was  weighed  (see  p.  1 39)  showed 
that  he  was  innocent,  then  Thoth,  the  scribe  of 
the  gods,  wrote  down  his  acquittal.  Horus 
then  took  the  deceased  by  the  hand  and  led 
the  new  subject  to  his  father  Osiris,  just  as  in 
this  world  an  earthly  prince  would  present  a 
deserving  man  to  the  Pharaoh. 

From  a material  point  of  view  also  Osiris 
gained  much  advantage  when  he  became  the 
great  god  of  the  dead  ; the  places  where  he 
was  honoured  rose  to  the  highest  importance, 
especially  Abydos,  whence  seems  to  have  origin- 
ated the  Osiris  legend.  In  the  earliest  ages  this 
town  was  an  obscure  village,  but  after  the  close 
of  the  Old  Empire  it  became  the  most  sacred 
place  in  Egypt,  and  the  wish  of  every  pious 
man  was  to  rest  there  near  Osiris.  The  place 
maintained  its  supremacy  down  to  Greek  times. 
Under  the  Ptolemies  a tomb  of  Osiris  was 
connected  with  each  new  sanctuary,  the  great 
god  Set  was  converted  into  a Satan  because  he 
had  murdered  Osiris,  and  to  the  Roman  world 
Serapis  and  Isis  became  the  Egyptian  gods 
par  excellence.  All  this  indicates  that  the  doc- 
trine of  Osiris  influenced  not  only  the  funerary 
worship,  but  also  all  the  religion  of  the  country. 

The  above  remarks  will  suffice  for  the  need- 
ful understanding  of  the  funeral  customs  and 
festivals  for  the  dead.  I must  repeat  however, 
that  besides  these  conceptions,  there  were  others 
both  of  older  and  of  more  recent  growth,  which 
were  often  directly  contradictory,  and,  as  far  as 
we  know,  have  never  satisfactorily  been  ex- 
plained. It  is  impossible  from  the  texts  to 
answer  even  elementary  questions  as  to  the  con- 
stitution and  the  position  of  the  kingdom  of  the 


THE  JUDGES  OF  THE  DEAD. 


3io 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


blessed  ; for  centuries  one  obscure  idea  was  grafted  on  another  scarcely 
less  obscure,  until  the  one  became  less  clear  than  the  other,  and  there 
is  now  no  hope  of  arriving  at  a right  understanding  of  the  whole. 

When  the  Egyptians  saw  the  sun  disappear  behind  the  western 
mountains  it  was  natural  that  they  should  imagine  that  in  the  west  lay 
the  entrance  into  the  hidden  land  ; therefore,  when  no  special  circumstances 
prevented,  they  always  built  their  tombs  on  the  edge  of  the  western  desert. 
For  at  least  3000  years  they  thus  buried  their  dead;  and  as  they  preferred 
not  to  go  far  into  the  desert,  the  strip  of  ground  which  bounded  the  fertile 
country  must  have  been  filled  with  bodies  in  a way  which  defies  descrip- 
tion. According  to  the  lowest  reckoning,  from  the  time  of  the  Old  Empire 
to  the  Christian  epoch,  I 50,000,000  to  200,000,000  human  beings  must 
have  died  in  Upper  Egypt  alone,  and  these  must  have  nearly  all  found 
their  last  resting-place  in  a strip  of  desert  about  450  miles  long. 

We  must  not  imagine  that  there  was  the  same  immense  number  of 
tombs , for  in  the  older  period  at  any  rate,  the  higher  classes  alone  possessed 
tombs,  the  lower  orders  were  simply  buried  in  the  sand  of  the  desert. 
Mariette  chanced  to  find  the  burial  field  for  the  poor  of  Memphis  j1 2  the 
bodies  lay  about  three  feet  below  the  surface  with  no  coffins  nor  bandages; 
at  most  a little  brick  building  had  sometimes  been  constructed  to  separate 
one  of  rather  higher  standing  from  his  neighbour.  Small  alabaster  bowls 
and  bones  of  animals  showed  that  food  and  drink  had  been  given  to  them. 

Thus  originally  the  building  of  a real  tomb  was  apparently  the  privilege 
of  the  highest  class,  and  if  we  reckon  that  through  the  great  excavations  of 
Lepsius  and  Mariette  five  hundred  tombs  of  the  Old  Empire  were  brought 

to  light,  and  even  if  we  conclude 
that  one-tenth  of  the  tombs  have 
been  discovered  (a  conclusion  far 
beyond  probability),  we  shall  find 
that  during  the  4th  and  5 th 
dynasties  5000  persons  alone 
could  have  been  thus  buried.  In 
other  words,  out  of  a population 
of  5,000,000,  700  persons  at 
most  could  have  annually  afforded 
themselves  this  luxury.  • 

The  tombs  of  the  Old  Empire, 
the  so-called  mastabahs,  all  bear 
the  same  character.  This  form  of 
tomb  seems  to  have  originated  in 
the  oblong  heaps  of  stones  which 
were  raised  in  prehistoric  times 
over  the  grave  of  a deceased  prince  in  order  to  protect  his  body.  The 

1 Mar.  Mast.,  17. 

2 These  are,  of  course,  very  vague  reckonings  ; they  certainly  show  however,  with  certainty,  the 
approximate  proportion. 


SECTION  OF  A MASTABAH  AT  GIZEH  WITH  TWO 
SHAFTS,  EACH  OF  WHICH  LEADS  TO  A MUMMY 
CHAMBER. 

(After  L.  D. , i.  22,  restored  by  Chipiez. ) 


XIII 


THE  DEAD 


3" 


mastabahs  of  the  time  of  Chufu  are  really  similar  heaps  of  stone  covered 
with  a casing  of  sloping  flat  blocks.  The  real  grave  that  contains  the 
body  lies  deep  under  this  stone  construction  ; it  is  a narrow  chamber  hewn 
out  in  the  rock,  to  which  a shaft  leads  down  from  the  roof  of  the  mastabah. 
When  the  body  has  been  hidden  in  this  chamber,  the  door  is  walled  up, 
and  the  shaft  filled  with  great  blocks  of  stone.  The  tomb  was  not  built 
merely  to  protect  the  body,  it  was  also  the  place  to  which  the  friends  could 
bring  offerings  for  the  ka  of  the  deceased,  and  could  recite  the  necessary 
formulae  before  him.  A portion  therefore  of  each  tomb  was  so  arranged 
that  the  worshippers  might  look  towards  the  west,  the  entrance  into 
the  hidden  land  ; and  in  fact  the  decoration  of  this  part  of  the  tomb 


MASTABAH  TOMBS  IN  THE  NECROPOLIS  OF  GIZEH,  RESTORED  BY  PERROT-CHIPIEZ. 

In  front  of  the  tombs  are  the  entrances  to  the  funerary  chapels,  on  the  roofs  the  openings  to  the  shafts. 


always  represented  that  entrance  in  the  form  of  a narrow  door.  In  the 
most  simple  mastabahs  this  false  door,  on  which  the  name  of  the  deceased 
and  prayers  for  the  dead  were  written,  was  usually  outside  on  the  east  wall, 
so  that  the  worship  went  on  in  front  of  the  tomb  in  the  road.  As  a rule, 
however,  a small  chamber  was  cleared  out  at  the  south-east  corner,  and 
on  the  further  wall,  looking  towards  the  west,  is  found  the  false  door  with 
the  inscriptions.  These  chambers  represent  the  great  scientific  value  of  the 
mastabahs,  for  their  walls  are  covered  with  inscriptions  and  pictures,  from 
which  we  have  obtained  all  our  knowledge  of  the  Old  Empire.  Whatever 
was  dear  to  the  deceased  or  valued  by  him  is  represented  or  related  here, — 
his  titles,  his  estates,  his  workmen  and  officials,  but  all  with  reference 
specially  to  the  tomb  and  to  the  funerary  worship.  We  must  not  imagine 
this  chamber  in  the  mastabah  to  be  of  large  size  ; it  occupies  often  but  a 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAT. 


312 


fiftieth  part  of  the  great  massive  stone  construction.1  The  mastabahs 
are  also  of  very  various  sizes, — some  are  quite  small,  covering  perhaps  an 
area  of  24  square  yards  ; others  close  by  may  cover  an  area  of  more 
than  a quarter  of  an  acre. 

In  addition  to  the  above  chamber,  the  mastabah  contained  a second 
smaller  room,  the  so-called  serddb,  in  which  the 
statue  of  the  deceased  was  hidden.  This  serddb 
(the  word  is  Arabic  and  signifies  cellar)  was 
only  separated  by  a wall  from  the  chapel,  so  that 
the  ka,  who  inhabited  the  statue,  should  be  near 
at  hand  during  the  sacrifices  and  during  the 
recitation  of  the  funerary  formulae  ; frequently, 
in  fact,  there  was  also  a narrow  hole  through 
the  partition,  so  that  the  incense  might  better 
pass  into  the  serddb  to  the  statue. 

The  furniture  of  the  funerary  chamber  seems  to  us  rather  scanty  : 
before  the  false  door  is  placed  a stone  table  of  offerings  ; and  close 
by,  the  high  wooden  stands  with  bowls  for  offerings  of  drink  and  oil. 
Other  objects  which  the  chamber  originally  contained  have  doubtless  been 
stolen  in  old  times,  for  this  chamber  was  always  easy  of  access.  The 
mummy  chambers  also  have  almost  invariably  been  robbed  by  these 
ancient  thieves,  in  spite  of  the  careful  way  in  which  they  were  walled  and 
filled  up,  so  that  we  know  very  little  of  the  oldest  manner  of  burial. 
A large  simple  oblong  sarcophagus,  which  sometimes  contained  a wooden 
coffin,  enclosed  the  body,  which  was  always  mummied  and  bandaged. 
Over  the  face  the  deceased  sometimes  wore  a mask  of  cartonage.  In 
the  coffin  was  usually  placed  the  wooden  or  stone  head-rest  used  in  life 
as  a pillow,  with  which  the  deceased  could  not  dispense  for  his  eternal 
sleep. 

The  mastabah  tombs  described  above  are  all  found  in  the  burial-places 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  later  town  of  Memphis  ; they  were  built 
entirely  by  the  aristocracy,  who  wished  to  rest  near  their  monarch. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  Old  Empire,  when  the  power  of  the  king  declined, 
the  nobility  of  the  nomes  began  to  prepare  their  tombs  near  their  own 
homes,  and  at  the  same  time  we  find  a change  in  the  form  of  tomb.  In- 
stead of  the  mastabah,  the  rock-tomb  was  now  preferred  everywhere.  This 
tomb  had  only  been  used  before  in  a few  cases  on  the  low  plateaus  of  Gizeh 
and  Sakkarah  ; it  presented  however  the  form  most  suitable  for  the  higher 
and  steeper  rocky  sides  of  the  valleys  of  Upper  Egypt.  The  details  of 
the  plan  of  these  rock-tombs  vary  a good  deal  according  to  the  riches  of 
the  family,  and  according  to  the  ruling  fashion  ; the  chief  characteristics 
are  however  common  to  all,  even  to  tombs  of  different  periods.  Through 
a stately  portico  we  reach  the  place  of  worship,  which  consisted  of  one  or 
more  spacious  chambers,  the  walls  of  which  were  covered  with  reliefs 
or  paintings  of  the  customary  kind.  In  a corner  of  one  of  these  chambers 

1 K.g.  Mar.  Mast.,  232,  236,  341. 


□ 


GROUND-PLAN  OF  A MASTABAH. 
(After  Mar.  Mast.  341.)  A.  Chapel, 
b.  Serdab,  c.  Shaft  leading  to 
the  mummy  chamber. 


XIII 


THE  DEAD 


313 


there  was  a shaft  (the  so-called  well),  the  opening  of  which  was  hidden, 
for  it  led  to  the  mummy  chamber.  Sometimes  several  persons  were 
buried  in  one  tomb,  which  would  then  contain  several  wells.  As  it  was 
not  possible  to  have  a serdab  in  a grotto-tomb,  the  statues  of  the  deceased 
were  placed,  in  accordance  with  later  custom  also,  in  a niche  of  the  further- 
most chamber.  One  of  the  old  princes  of  Elephantine,  whose  tomb  was 
discovered  in  1886,  resorted  to  a curious  expedient  as  decoration, — he  had 
the  stone  pillars  of  the  funerary  chapel  carved  to  represent  the  mummies 
who  were  buried  below.  These  grotto-tombs  of  the  Middle  Empire,  with 
their  columned  halls  and  often  tasteful  entrances  (cp.  p.  24),  stand  higher 
in  an  artistic  sense  than  the  shapeless  stone  masses  of  the  mastabahs 
with  their  narrow  chambers.  In  dimensions  also  many  of  the  former 
equal  the  latter,  and  tombs  like  those  at  Siut,  with  their  large  halls,  still 
compel  our  admiration,  even  in  this  country  of  gigantic  buildings. 


COFFIN  OF  THE  OLD  EMPIRE  IN  THE  FORM  OF  A HOUSE.  (After  L.  D. , i.  30.) 


As  with  the  mastabahs  so  with  the  grotto-tombs,  it  was  of  course 
men  of  rank  only  who  could  afford  them  ; they  were  far  beyond  the 
means  of  the  middle  class,  who,  after  the  close  of  the  Old  Empire,  began 
to  build  small  tombs  for  themselves.  The  latter  prefered  to  build  at 
Abydos,  the  city  of  Osiris  ; and  they  were  as  a rule  content  with  a shallow 
well  to  contain  the  coffin.  Over  this  was  built  a little  brick  pyramid  on 
a low  pedestal,  the  whole  being  then  plastered  with  Nile  mud  and  whitened. 
In  front  of  this  pyramid  there  was  sometimes,  as  in  our  illustration,  a 
small  porch,  which  served  as  a funerary  chapel  ; in  other  cases  the 
offerings  and  prayers  were  offered  in  the  open  air  in  front  of  the  tomb, 
where  was  placed  a stone  slab,  the  funerary  stela.  These  stelae,  which 
are  so  numerous  in  our  museums,  were  originally  identical  with  the  false 
doors  of  the  mastabahs,  and  represented  the  entrance  into  the  nether- 
world : they  indicated  the  place  to  which  the  friends  were  to  turn  when 
they  brought  their  offerings.  The  stelae  in  these  little  tombs  of  the 


3>4 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


poorer  people  were  of  course  of  very  small  dimensions — most  were  less 
than  three  feet  high — and  consequently  their  original  signification  was  soon 
forgotten.  Even  at  the  beginning  of  the  Middle  Empire  the  door  form 
disappeared  completely,  and  the  whole  space  of  the  stone  was  taken  up 
with  the  representation  of  the  deceased  seated  before  a table  of  offerings 
receiving  gifts  from  his  relations  and  servants.  Soon  afterwards  it  became 
the  custom  to  round  off  the  stone  at  the  top,  and  when,  under  the  New 
Empire,  pictures  of  a purely  religious  character  took  the  place  of  the 
former  representations,  no  one  looking  at  the  tomb  stela  could  have 
guessed  that  it  originated  from  the  false  door. 

The  latter  tombs  remained  in  vogue  till  far  into  the  time  of  the  New 
Empire  ; and  the  burial-grounds  of  Abydos  and  Thebes  must  have  been 
covered  with  many  hundreds  of  these  little  white  pyramids.  From  their 


tomb  of  the  middle  empire  at  abvdos.  (After  Perrot-Chipiez. ) 

slight  style  of  building  they  have  now  almost  entirely  disappeared,  and 
the  short  shaft  in  which  formerly  the  coffin  was  hidden  is  left  bare,  and 
looks  like  a hole  filled  with  rubbish. 

There  are  a great  number  of  grotto-tombs  at  Thebes  of  the  time  of 
the  New  Empire,  which,  comparatively  speaking,  are  little  injured.  Those 
indeed  which  possessed  a brick  porch  have  lost  that  part,  but  the  funerary 
chapels  are  often  in  excellent  preservation.  They  usually  consist  of  a 
wide  chamber  of  little  depth,  on  the  two  narrow  sides  of  which  are  placed 
the  stelae  ; whilst  in  the  middle  of  the  back  wall  is  generally  the  entrance 
to  a narrow  long  room.  In  the  latter  as  a rule  was  the  well  with  the 
coffin,  and  seated  in  a niche  in  the  further  wall  were  usually  the  life-size 
statues  of  the  deceased  and  his  wife  carved  in  the  rock.  Though  these 
tombs  often  contain  other  chambers  in  addition  to  the  above,  yet  their 
dimensions  do  not  as  a rule  nearly  equal  the  similar  tombs  of  the  Middle 
Empire.  The  pictures  also,  however  interesting  they  may  be,  are  not 
executed  with  the  same  finish  ; we  rarely  meet  with  careful  reliefs  ; the 
walls  are  generally  plastered  with  Nile  mud  and  hastily  though  brightly 
painted.  We  see  that  under  the  New  Empire  the  upper  classes  were  not 


XIII 


THE  DEAD 


3i5 


so  particular  as  to  the  plan  of  their  tombs,  while  the  desire  for  a burial,  in 
accordance  with  all  the  requirements  of  religion,  had  reached  what  we  may 
comparatively  call  the  lower  orders  of  the  nation, — under  the  20th  dynasty 
we  even  hear  of  a chief  workman  who  constructed  a tomb  for  himself.1 
This  man  may  indeed  have  been  an  exception  to  the  rule,  yet  his  example 
probably  induced  others  to  take  the  opportunity  of  sharing  a rock  tomb 
together.  Many  of  the  latter  tombs  have  been  found ; they  were  evidently 
laid  out  by  contractors  and  the  places  let  out  in  them.  The  people  who  are 
buried  in  them  belong,  as  far  as  we  can  ascertain,  mostly  to  the  middle 
class." 

Though  the  architectural  plan  of  the  tombs  of  the  New  Empire  was 
simpler  than  that  of  those  of  the  old  period,  yet  gradually  many  other 
things  had  come  to  be  necessary  for  the  full  salvation  of  the  soul  of  the 
deceased.  The  sarcophagus  under  the  Old  Empire  was  a four-cornered 
stone  chest  with  few  inscriptions  and  very  little  adornment  ; under  the 
Middle  Empire  however  it  had  quite  a gay  appearance.  False  doors  were 
painted  on  the  outside,  as  well  as  invocations  to  the  protector  of  the  dead, 
while  the  inside  was  closely  inscribed  with  religious  texts.  The  inner  coffins 
also  were  generally  similarly  inscribed  all  over.  Evidently  they  believed 
that  these  formulae,  the  glorifications  as  they  called  them,  the  repetition  of 
which  was  so  useful  for  the  deceased,  would  exercise  the  same  effect  if 
they  wrote  them  out  for  him  instead  of  repeating  them.  In  later  times, 
when  these  formulae  increased  more  and  more  in  number,  they  had  not 
room  enough  for  them  on  the  sides  of  the  coffin  ; under  the  New  Empire 
therefore  they  were  written  out  on  a roll  of  papyrus,  and  this  so-called 
Book  of  the  Dead  was  bound  up  inside  the  bandages  of  the  mummy.  Thus 
as  it  was  not  now  necessary  that  the  coffin  should  have  smooth  sides  fit  for 
inscriptions,  the  Egyptians  began  to  think  more  of  its  artistic  form.  The 
inner  coffins,  which  were  of  wood  or  cartonage,  were  as  a rule  shaped  like 
the  mummy,  and  on  the  cover  of  the  outer  stone  sarcophagus  used  by 
people  of  rank  was  represented  the  deceased  lying  at  full  length.  The 
embalmment  and  the  complicated  system  of  bandaging  the  body  seem  to 
have  become  more  perfect  under  the  New  Empire  as  compared  with  the 
older  period  ; as  yet  however  we  can  give  no  details  on  this  point.  One 
innovation  only  is  apparent,  viz.  the  treatment  of  the  viscera.  The  heart, 
upon  the  weight  of  which  depended  the  decision  as  to  the  innocence  of  the 
deceased  in  the  judgment  before  Osiris,  was  now  taken  out  of  the  body 
and  replaced  by  a stone  scarabaeus.  The  so-called  scarabaeus,  the  great 
cockchafer  of  southern  countries,  was  considered  an  especially  mysterious 
and  sacred  animal,  and  the  figure  of  this  insect  was  almost  as  symbolic  to 
the  followers  of  the  Egyptian  religion  as  the  cross  is  to  the  Christian. 
If  this  sacred  emblem  therefore  were  substituted  for  the  sinful  heart,  and 
further  if  the  invocation  were  added  that  it  “ might  not  rise  up  as  a witness  ” 

1 Salt,  2,  6 ff.  Cp.  ib.,  Rev.  1,  2. 

- Cp.  the  detailed  accormt  of  a tomb  of  this  kind  by  Passalacqua,  Catalogue  raisonne,  p. 


316 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


coffin  of  the  sckibe  ’en’eua,  dyn.  19,  MEMPHIS.  (Now  in  the  Louvre:  aftei  Perrot-Chipiez. ) 


XIII 


THE  DEAD 


3i7 


against  his  master,  it  would  be  of  essential  use  to  the  deceased.  The  old 
anxiety  however,  lest  the  deceased  might  suffer  from  hunger  and  thirst,  led 
to  further  special  precautions  concerning  those  organs  of  the  body  which 
might  suffer  from  these  disagreeable  sensations.  They  were  taken  out  of 
the  body  and  placed  in  four  jars,  each  under  the  protection  of  a particular 
genius.  These  genii  are  ’Emset,  Hape,  Duamutf,  and  Oebhsneuf ; as  sons 
of  Osiris  they  could  protect  the  deceased  from  hunger  ; 1 each  of  the  jars 
with  the  viscera  (from  an  ancient  misconception  we  term  them  canopic 
vases)  has  a cover,  as  is  seen  in  the  illustration  at  the  head  of  this  chapter, 
in  the  shape  of  the  animal  head  of  its  protecting  genius. 

Before  the  invention  of  these  jars  many  precautionary  measures  were 
taken  to  ward  off  the  much-dreaded  danger  of  hunger,  in  case  the 
sacrifices  and  magical  formulae  should  fail  of  effect.  Under  the  Old 
and  the  Middle  Empire  food  was  given  to  him  in  imperishable  form  ; 
alabaster  figures  of  roast  geese,  and  wooden  jars  of  wine  were  supposed, 
by  the  indwelling  of  certain  magical  power,  to  satisfy  his  hunger  and 
thirst.  In  the  same  mysterious  way  his  food  was  also  supposed  to  be 
cooked  for  him  in  the  little  wooden  models  of  kitchens,  which  resembled 
those  in  which  his  servants  had  formerly  roasted  his  beef  and  prepared  his 
food  ; whilst  statuettes  of  servants  pounding  corn  or  kneading  dough  were 
believed  to  provide  bread  for  the  deceased.  The  same  faith  in  the 
magical  power  of  wooden  figures  was  shown  when  they  placed  a little 
boat  with  oars  near  the  coffin  ; this  was  to  ensure  to  him  the  possibility 
of  travelling.  Besides  these  models  of  servants  and  of  sailors  which 
replaced  the  earthly  domestics  of  the  departed,  there  were  many  other 
figures  of  a different  kind  which  served  him  as  bondservants.  These  are 
the  so-called  funerary  statuettes,  or  as  they  are  termed  in  Egyptian  the 
Ushebte,  i.e.  the  answerers , a curious  name  which  admits  of  a simple 
explanation. L'  As  we  remarked  above,  the  Egyptian  conception  of  the 
Fields  of  the  Blessed  was  that  of  an  arable  country  of  peculiar  fertility  ; 
there  ploughing  and  reaping,  watering  and  carrying  away  the  earth  went  on 
just  as  in  the  fields  on  earth.  As  this  land  was  most  productive,  the  idea 
of  being  obliged  to  cultivate  it  was  always  attractive  to  the  Egyptian 
peasantry,  who  formed  the  bulk  of  the  Egyptian  nation.  But  the  case 
was  otherwise  with  the  great  lords.  On  earth  they  had  never  followed 
the  plough  nor  used  a scythe,  it  was  not  therefore  a cheerful  prospect  to 
them  that  Osiris  might  call  upon  them  to  work  in  the  fields  for  him.  In 
order  to  escape  this  unpleasant  contingency  the  members  of  the  upper 
classes  had  whole  boxes  of  these  little  wooden  and  faience  figures,  the 
answerers , buried  with  them,  so  that  whenever  the  name  of  the  deceased 
should  be  called  upon  to  work,  they  should  anszvcr  for  him  and  do  the 
work  for  him.  On  earth  a man  of  wealth  or  a distinguished  scribe  left 
his  work  to  his  bondservants  ; so,  thanks  to  this  invention,  he  could  do 
the  same  in  the  Blessed  Land. 

1 Pyramid  of  Tet’e,  1.  60. 

- There  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  truth  of  this  explanation,  which  is  given  by  Maspero. 


3*8 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


If,  even  after  all  these  precautions,  something  should  yet  be  wanting 
for  the  happiness  and  repose  of  the  deceased,  there  were  still  the  amulets, 
which  could  protect  him  from  all  harm.  Little  models  of  wands  or 
of  papyrus  rolls,  amulets  for  the  fingers,  sacred  eyes  of  Horus,  and  other 
curious  things,  were  laid  by  the  side  of  the  mummy  or  were  hung  in  a 
chain  round  its  neck  ; gradually  the  demand  for  these  amulets  increased  so 
much  that  the  manufacture  of  them  became  a symbol  of  Egyptian  industry. 
In  the  same  way  as  the  beautiful  vases  of  the  Greeks  are  found  in  all  those 
countries  with  which  the  Greeks  traded,  so  these  little  talismans  abound 
in  every  place  where  the  Egyptians  carried  on  their  commerce,  as  a.  sign 
of  their  activity  and  of  their  joyless  imagination. 

From  what  we  have  said  above,  we  see  that  an  Egyptian  would  deem 
it  a terrible  misfortune,  if  at  death  he  were  not  laid  to  rest  in  a tomb  which 
answered  to  all  these  magical  requirements  ; every  one  therefore  who  was 
not  thoughtless  or  irreligious  began  to  build  a tomb  as  soon  as  possible, 
that  is  as  soon  as  his  means  allowed.  For  instance,  Un’e,  the  oft- 
mentioned  contemporary  of  king  Pepy,  began  his  tomb  when  he  had 
scarcely  completed  half  his  official  career. 1 Owing  to  his  beginning  the 
building  so  early  in  life  one  drawback  was  unavoidable  ; the  names  of  his 
sons  were  handed  down  to  posterity  as  children  with  no  titles,  for  every 
father  was  not  so  lucky  as  Dkid'acnVonch,  the  ancient  “ treasurer  of  the 
god”  who  prepared  a special  place  in  his  tomb  for  his  son  “when  he  was 
still  a child,”  and  was  able  even  then  to  designate  him  as  his  successor  in 
his  office. 2 To  our  minds  this  might  be  a small  misfortune,  but  to  the 
Egyptian,  who  was  so  proud  of  his  titles,  it  was  such  an  important 
matter  that  he  resorted  to  the  curious  expedient  of  leaving  an  empty  space 
before  the  name  of  his  infant  son,  which  the  latter  might  fill  in  later  to 
say  how  far  he  had  been  prospered  by  the  favour  of  the  Pharaoh.  We 
should  scarcely  have  been  aware  of  this  custom  had  not  a stele  been 
preserved  to  us  in  which  the  son  had  forgotten  later  to  fill  up  the  space.3 
A similar  case  exists  with  regard  to  a wife — Cha‘emhe‘t,  the  superintendent 
of  the  granaries  of  king  Amenhotep  III.,  mentioned  above  (see  p.  I o 8), 
built  himself  a splendid  tomb  in  Thebes  before  he  had  settled  his  marriage 
arrangements.  He  was  either  still  unmarried,  or  he  had  not  decided 
which  lady  of  his  harem  he  should  raise  to  be  his  legitimate  wife.  The 
statue  of  his  wife  is  seated  by  him  in  his  tomb,  but  in  the  inscription  a 
space  is  left  after  the  words  “his  dear  wife,  the  lady  of  his  house.”4 
Evidently  Cha‘emhe‘t  died  before  he  had  made  up  his  mind  what  name 
to  insert. 

The  most  pious  and  the  most  careful  might  however  sometimes  die 
without  having  built  a tomb,  for  as  the  wise  ’Eney  taught  his  son,  “ the 
messenger  comes  to  thee  . . . even  as  to  the  old  . . . say  not  to  him  : ‘ I 
am  young’  . . . death  comes  and  takes  as  first-offering  the  child  from  the 
mother’s  breast,  as  well  as  the  man  who  has  grown  old.”  5 In  this  case  it 

3 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  702,  cp.  with  703. 

5 Pap.  de  Bold.,  i.  17,  14-1S,  4. 


1 A.  Z.,  1882,  6. 

4 From  my  own  copy. 


2 Mar.  Mast.,  200. 


XIII 


THE  DEAD 


319 


was  the  most  sacred  duty  of  those  who  were  left,  to  fulfil  that  which  the 
father  was  unable  to  perform  for  the  safety  of  his  soul,  and  to  erect  his 
tomb  “ according  to  that  which  he  had  said  while  he  yet  stood  upon  his 
feet.”1  This  happened  more  often  than  we  might  expect,  for  many  stelae, 
especially  those  of  later  ages,  bear  the  statement  that  they  were  erected  to 
a father  “ by  his  loving  son,  who  maintains  his  name  in  life.” 

One  circumstance  that  might  tend  to  the  postponement  of  the  building 
of  the  tomb  longer  than  was  right  was  its  great  cost.  Many  men,  whose 
rank  obliged  them  to  have  their  own  tombs,  had  not  the  means  to  afford 
this  luxury.  There  was  a simple  way  out  of  this  difficulty  ; without 
further  trouble  many  people  seized  upon  an  ancient  tomb  that  had  perhaps 
belonged  to  an  extinct  family  and  was  no  longer  cared  for.  If  this  were  a 
grotto  tomb,  the  walls  were  if  necessary  replastered  and  repainted  ; if  it 
were  a mastabah,  it  was  rebuilt  so  far  as  was  needful  in  order  to  remove 
the  compromising  inscriptions. 2 But  this  convenient  expedient  was 
considered  sinful  to  a certain  degree,  and  a really  pious  man  preferred  to 
build  his  tomb  “ on  a pure  place,  on  which  no  man  had  built  his  tomb  ; 
he  also  built  his  tomb  of  new  material,  and  took  no  man’s  possession.”  3 
Others  obtained  help  from  the  munificence  of  the  Pharaoh  for  the  proper 
construction  and  equipment  of  their  tombs.  Thus,  apparently  at  the 
same  time  as  the  building  of  his  own  pyramid,  king  Menkere1  caused 
fifty  of  his  royal  workmen,  under  the  direction  of  the  high  priest  of 
Memphis,  to  erect  a tomb  for  Debhen,  an  officer  of  his  palace.  He 
also  had  a double  false  door  brought  for  him  from  the  quarries  of  Turah, 
which  was  then  carved  for  him  by  the  royal  architect.4  King  Sehure1  also 
presented  his  chief  physician  Sechmetna’e‘onch  with  a costly  false  door, 5 
which  was  carved  under  the  eyes  of  the  Pharaoh  by  his  own  artists  and 
painted  in  lapis-lazuli  colour.  The  fate  of  this  present  was  the  same  as 
that  of  many  royal  presents  ; the  very  modest  tomb,  which  was  all  this 
learned  man  could  afford  to  build  for  himself,  looks  all  the  poorer  for  this 
munificent  royal  gift.  To  others  of  his  faithful  servants  the  Pharaoh 
would  send  by  the  “ treasurer  of  the  god,”  with  the  “ great  transport  ships 
of  the  court,”  a coffin  together  with  its  cover,  which  he  had  cut  for  them  in 
the  quarries  of  Turah.6  Under  the  Middle  and  the  New  Empire  the  good 
god  not  infrequently  presented  the  statues  which  were  placed  in  the  tomb 
or  in  the  temple  for  the  funerary  worship.  On  many  of  these  we  can  still 
read  that  they  were  “given  as  a reward  on  the  part  of  the  king.” 

It  was  natural  that  a people  who  thought  so  much  of  a suitable  tomb 
should  celebrate  with  special  pomp  the  day  on  which  the  deceased  was 
carried  thither.  With  regard  to  those  historical  periods  with  which  we 
are  concerned,  we  are  not  certain  how  long  a time  intervened  between  the 
day  of  death  and  that  of  the  funeral  ; at  all  events  it  was  a long  interval, 

1 L.  D. , ii.  34  d. 

- Cases  also  exist  however  of  ancient  date,  in  which  nothing  in  the  tomb  has  been  changed. 

3 Mar.  Mast.,  342.  4 L.  D.,  ii.  37  b.  5 Mar.  Mast.,  204,  205. 

0 X.  Z.,  1SS2,  6-7  ; similarly  in  the  injured  inscription,  L.  D. , ii.  76. 


320 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


for  whichever  method  of  embalmment  was  followed,  that  process  always 
occupied  a considerable  time.  Even  when  the  mummification  was  com- 
plete, the  funeral  of  men  of  rank  was  often  delayed  in  consequence  of  a 
curious  custom  ; the  mummy  had  first  to  take  a journey.  This  may  seem 
absurd  to  us,  but  to  the  Egyptian  it  was  quite  a serious  matter.  As  I have 
remarked  before,  Abydos,  the  burial-place  of  the  head  of  Osiris,  was  con- 
sidered as  the  special  grave  of  this  god,  and  as  Osiris  was  the  divine  proto- 
type of  all  the  faithful  deceased,  there  could  be  no  better  spot  for  them 
to  rest  than  in  this  sacred  place.  From  the  time  of  the  6th  dynasty, 
countless  numbers  from  all  parts  of  Egypt  were  buried  there  in  the  hope 
that  thus  they  would  approach  nearer  to  the  god  ; “ that  they  would  receive 
the  gifts  of  incense  and  divine  offerings  on  the  table  of  the  king  of  the 
gods  ; that  the  great  ones  of  Abydos  would  bid  them  ‘ welcome  ’ ; that  a 
place  would  be  granted  them  in  the  bark  Neshmet  on  the  festival  of  the 
necropolis.”  1 Inasmuch  as  every  one  neither  could  nor  would  join  this 
retinue  of  the  god,  they  resorted  to  the  expedient  of  causing  the  deceased 
to  pay  a personal  visit  to  Osiris  before  he  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  burial- 
field  of  his  home.  The  mummy  was  wrapt  in  embroidered  linen  and  brought 
on  board  a boat  to  Abydos  ; his  friends  escorted  him  in  a second  boat. 
We  know  nothing  of  what  took  place  after  the  mummy  “ had  arrived  in 
peace  at  Abydos,  in  order  to  serve  Osiris  Uennofre  ” ; probably  the  body 
assisted  at  the  offerings  to  Osiris,  for  when  the  deceased  “ had  returned  in 
peace  from  Abydos,”  he  boasted  that  he  had  there  received  offerings  of 
bread,  and  “had  breathed  the  breath  of  myrrh  and  incense.”  2 

The  day  at  length  arrives  when  the  mummy  is  to  be  laid  to  his  eternal 
rest  ; the  relations  and  friends  assemble  to  escort  it  for  the  last  time  ; 
though  we  can  scarcely  call  it  a funeral  procession,  for  the  mummy  had  to 
be  taken  across  the  Nile.  The  coffin,  contained  in  a great  painted  case, 
covered  with  flowers,  is  placed  on  a richly  decorated  bark.  Squatting  near 
the  body  are  the  women  relations  of  the  deceased  with  their  breasts  bare, 
lamenting  him  ; the  funerary  priest  makes  offerings  and  burns  incense 
before  the  mummy.  His  official  recitation,  “an  incense  offering  to 
thee,  O Harmachis-Chepr’e,  who  art  in  the  bark  of  Nun,  the  father  of  the 
gods,  in  that  Neshmet  bark,  which  conducts  thither  the  god  and  Isis  and 
Nephthys  and  this  Horus,  the  son  of  Osiris,”  contrasts  strangely  with  the 
lamentations  of  the  women  who,  while  they  grieve  that  their  husband  and 
father  has  forsaken  them,  have  no  understanding  of  the  subtle  mysticism 
of  these  ceremonies.  The  boat  in  front  of  the  funerary  bark  also  contains 
women,  who  sit  on  the  deck  and  make  their  lamentations  towards  the' 
mummy;  a near  relation  of  the  deceased  stands  in  the  bows  of  this  boat  and 
calls  out  to  the  helmsman  : “ Steer  to  the  west,  to  the  land  of  the  justified. 
The  women  of  the  boat  weep  much,  very  much.  In  peace,  in  peace  to 
the  west,  thou  praised  one,  come  in  peace.  . . . When  time  has  become 
eternity  then  shall  we  see  thee  again,  for  behold,  thou  goest  away  to  that 

1 Stele  of ’Enher-necht  of  the  seventh  year  of  Usertsen  II.  (L.  A.),  and  many  similar  examples. 

2 Journey  to  Abydos — M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  126,  127  ; N.  E.  : \V. , iii.  lxvi. 


: 


A ) CEREMONIES  AT  THE  TOMB. 

:3E  ose  oe  the  i8th  DYNASTY,  after'  \v. , hi.  pl.  67.  (Cp.  the  explanation,  p.  320  f. ) 

HI  }'in  dynasty,  after  vv. , hi.  pl.  68.  (The  priest  with  the  book  is  the  reciter-priest;  the  bald-headed  priest  with  the 
5 The  tomb  is  situate  at  the  slope  of  the  mountain  ; before  it  stands  the  funerary  stela. ) 


[Between  pages  320  and  321. 


XIII 


THE  DEAD 


321 


country  in  which  all  are  equal.”  In  a third  boat  are  the  male  relations, 
whilst  the  fourth  is  occupied  by  the  colleagues  and  friends  of  the  deceased, 
who  carry  the  insignia  of  their  office,  and  are  come  to  render  the  last 
honours  to  him  who  is  gone,  and  to  lay  in  his  tomb  their  presents,  which  are 
borne  before  them  by  their  servants.  The  words  of  these  prophets,  princes 
and  priests  are  of  course  less  impassioned  ; they  admire  the  crowd  of 
followers  : “ Oh  how  beautiful  is  that  which  befalls  him.  . . . Because  of  the 
great  love  he  bore  to  Chons  of  Thebes  he  is  allowed  to  attain  to  the  West 
followed  by  tribe  after  tribe  of  his  servants.”  When  these  boats  and  the 
little  barks  containing  the  servants  with  bouquets  of  flowers,  offerings  of 
food,  and  boxes  of  all  kinds,  have  all  arrived  at  the  western  shore,  the 
real  funeral  procession  begins.1 *  The  bark  with  the  coffin  is  placed  on  a 
sledge  and  drawn  by  oxen;  the  men  walk  in  front  followed  by  the  women; 
thus  in  the  same  order  that  they  had  crossed  the  Nile,  they  wind  along  all 
the  long  way  to  the  grave.  We  will  pass  over  the  necessary  ceremonies 
which  were  performed  here  before  the  mummy,  the  mystical  opening  of 
the  mouth  of  the  deceased  with  the  crook,  the  pouring  out  of  water 
before  him,  the  recitations  of  one  priest  from  his  book,  the  offering  of 
incense  by  other  priests," — for  it  is  necessary  to  be  an  Egyptian  to  feel  much 
interest  in  these  matters.  It  touches  even  our  hearts  however,  when  we 
hear  the  wife  lament  as  she  throws  her  arms  round  the  mummy  : 3 “ I am 
thy  sister,  Meryt-Re‘;  thou  great  one,  forsake  me  not.  Thou  art  so  beau- 
tiful, my  good  father.  What  does  it  mean  that  I am  now  far  from  thee  ? 
Now  I go  alone.  . . . Thou  who  didst  love  to  talk  with  me, — thou  art  now 
silent  and  dost  not  speak.”  With  the  grief  of  the  wife  mingles  the  wailing 
of  the  mourners,  who  put  dust  on  their  heads  and  call  out,  “ Alas  the 
misfortune  ! ” They  cannot  understand  why  he  who  had  so  many  friends 
is  now  in  the  country  where  he  knows  but  a few  ; why  he  who  was  so 
active  should  now  be  fettered  and  bound  ; why  he  who  had  such  beautiful 
clothes  should  now  wear  the  dress  of  yesterday  for  ever.  In  the  rear 
there  stands  a group  whose  lamentations  for  the  deceased  do  him  most 
honour,  the  poor  widows  and  orphans  whom  he  had  provided  for  during 
his  lifetime. 

The  above  description  gives  the  essential  characteristics  of  the  funeral 
procession  at  all  periods,  except  that  sometimes  one  ceremony,  at  other 
times  another  ceremony,  was  the  more  minutely  carried  out.  Under  the  New 
Empire  the  most  important  part  was  played  by  the  acquaintances  and 
friends  of  the  deceased, 4 “ the  princes  and  friends  of  the  palace,” 5 who 
escort  the  “ praiseworthy  good  man  ” 6 and  place  the  lordly  household 
goods  ' near  the  coffin  as  their  last  gift.  Under  the  Old  and  the  Middle 

1 All  the  above  remarks,  after  W.,  iii.  Ixvii.,  which  is  repeated  (without  the  inscriptions)  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  accompanying  plate. 

- The  above,  after  W. , iii.  lxviii. ; cp.  the  lower  part  of  the  accompanying  plate. 

8 The  following  again,  after  W.,  Ixvii. 

4 Thus  the  “prophets,  princes  and  priests”  followed  a priest  (W.,  iii.  Ixvii.);  the  various 

artists  of  the  house  of  silver  follow  a high  official  of  the  treasury  (L.  D.,  iii.  242). 

■’  L.  D.,  iii.  242.  6 W.,  iii.  Ixvii.;  L.  D.,  iii.  242  b.  7 Amh.,  2,  9 ; Abb.,  4,  3. 

Y 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Empire  1 however,  the  transport  of  the  statues  of  the  deceased  was  the  more 
important  feature  of  the  funeral  ; 2 3 and  whilst  the  workmen  dragged  these 
statues  on  sledges  to  their  appointed  places,  the  reciter-priest  offered  incense 
before  each ; meantime  dancing  and  singing  girls  gave  a festive  appearance, 
as  the  Egyptians  thought,  to  the  procession.  These  statues  were  not  all 
taken  to  the  serdab  of  the  tomb  ; whoever  was  allowed  to  do  so  placed  a 
statue  in  the  temple  of  the  god  of  his  home  and  others  in  a chapel  on 
the  roof  of  his  house  4 5 * * as  well  as  in  his  garden,0  where  many  prepared  a 
place  in  which  their  Ka  should  be  honoured. 

It  is  not  our  intention  to  describe  this  worship  in  detail  ; it  consisted 
of  offerings  and  burning  of  incense  on  festival  days  ; in  certain  cases  other 
ceremonies  were  added  as  well  ; for  instance  at  Siut  under  the  Middle 
Empire,0  lamps  were  lighted  before  the  statue  of  the  deceased  on  the  first 
and  last  days  of  the  year,  and  on  other  festivals  ; also  on  the  same  days 
the  friends  came  to  the  temple  singing  songs  in  praise  of  the  departed. 
One  scene  only  of  these  festivities  shall  be  described  here  more  fully,  for 
it  seems  to  have  been  of  particular  interest  to  the  Egyptians  and  indeed 
especially  to  those  of  the  Old  Empire,  as  we  gather  from  the  countless 
representations  in  which  it  is  depicted.  This  scene  is  the  slaughter  of  the 
sacrificial  animal,  an  ox  or  a great  antelope. 

The  patient  animal  is  led  to  the  place  of  slaughter,  and  two  practised 
slaughterers  throw  him  down  with  ease.  ' The  hind  and  fore  legs  are 
bound  together,  a string  is  tied  round  the  tongue,  and  when  this  is 
pulled  the  poor  animal  falls  at  once  helpless  to  the  ground.  Sometimes 
exciting  scenes  take  place.  A powerful  animal  sometimes  rebels  against 
his  tormentors  in  a very  fighting  manner,  and  rushes  madly  upon  them. 
But  it  is  of  no  use, — whilst  some  avoid  his  thrusts  in  front,  others  boldly 
seize  him  from  behind  ; they  hold  on  to  his  legs,  they  hang  on  to  his 
tail,  two  of  the  most  courageous  even  spring  madly  on  his  back  and  wring 
his  horns  with  might  and  main.  The  bull  is  unable  to  withstand  their 
united  efforts  ; he  falls  down,  and  the  men  succeed  in  binding  his  fore  and 
hind  legs  together.  They  then  fearlessly  give  him  his  death  stroke  ; they 
cut  his  jugular  vein,  and,  as  they  ironically  say,  they  “allow  him  to  yield.” 
When  the  blood  has  been  carefully  collected  they  begin  the  chief 
business,  the  scientific  cutting  up  of  the  animal.  According  to  very 

1 O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  64  bis,  78,  104  c;  Mar.  Mast.,  342  f ; M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  126-127;  X.  E : 
(Memphis)  L.  D.,  iii.  242,  I do  not  remember  it  in  any  Theban  pictures. 

2 Representations  of  funerals  under  the  Old  Empire,  besides  those  quoted  in  the  previous  note  : 
L.  D.,  ii.  14  a,  35,  101  b. 

3 L.  D.,  ii.  124,  83  ; A.  Z.,  1882,  166,  173.  Thus  the  statues  of  men  of  rank  have  been  found 
at  Karnak  and  in  the  temple  of  Memphis. 

4 L.  D.,  ii.  35  ; it  is  doubtful,  nevertheless,  whether  it  may  not  be  the  roof  of  the  mastabah. 

5 X.  Z.,  1882,182.  8 A.  Z.,  1882,  164. 

7 The  throwing  down  of  the  ox — O.  E.  : Badeker,  404  ; L.  D.,  14  b ; M.  E.  : E.  D.,  ii.  129  ; Ros. 

Me.,  29,  1.  Stabbing  the  animal — O.  E.  : Brugsch,  Gr.  \V.,  97  ; N.  E.  : Ros.,  Me.,  86.  Cuttingup 
of  the  animal  represented  continually,  remarkable  examples — O.  E.  : Diim.  Res.,  1 1 ; L.  D.,  ii.  24, 

52,  66-68  ( = Ros.  Me.,  83),  73,  78;  Brugsch,  Gr.  W.,  92-100;  Perrot,  145-281  ; M.  E.  : L.  D., 
ii.  128-129  (with  other  words),  Ros.  Me.,  119,  3 ; N.  E.  : Ros.  Me.,  86. 


XIII 


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323 


ancient  custom,  which  we  often  find  retains  its  authority  at  sacrificial 
ceremonies,  the  slaughterers  use  flint  knives  for  this  purpose  ; but  as 
these  knives  would  soon  become  blunt,  the  men  wear  a metal  sharpener 
(like  our  modern  steel)  tied  to  the  corner  of  the  apron,  with  which  they 
sharpen  the  knife,  striking  off  splinters  of  the  stone. 

The  legs,  which  the  Egyptians  considered  the  best  part  of  the  animal, 
are  cut  off  first  ; one  man  holds  up  the  hoof  of  the  animal,  and  with  his 
arm  round  it  draws  it  back  as  firmly  as  he  can,  the  other  cuts  it  off  at 
the  joint.  The  following  conversation  takes  place  between  the  two  men  : 
“ Draw  it  as  far  as  you  can  ” ; “I  am  doing  so.”  The  belly  is  then  slit 
up,  and  the  heart  of  the  animal  taken  out,  this  being  also  esteemed  as 
such  a choice  piece  for  sacrificial  purposes,  that  the  one  man  takes  much 
interest  in  showing  the  beauty  of  it  to  the  other. 

The  disjointed  pieces  however  cannot  yet  be  made  use  of  for  the 
offering,  for  the  most  important  personage  has  not  yet  appeared  on  the 
scene  of  action  ; the  slaughterer  already  remarks  in  a vexed  tone,  “ Will 
not  the  priest  come  to  this  leg  joint?”  At  length  he  comes;  he  is  the  super- 
intendent of  the  Ue‘bs  of  the  Pharaoh,  who  must  declare  the  sacrifice  to  be 
pure.  He  gravely  smells  the  blood  of  the  animal  and  examines  the  flesh 
carefully,  he  then  declares  all  to  be  good  and  pure.  Now  the  legs  can 
be  laid  upon  the  table  of  offerings  ; afterwards  at  the  close  of  the  festival 
they  will  be  used  to  satisfy  the  hunger  of  the  mourners. 

These  bulls,  as  well  as  the  offering  of  bread  and  beer,  are  said  to  be 
the  “ offering  that  the  king  gives,”  1 for,  according  to  ancient  custom,  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  Pharaoh  to  provide  the  funerary  offerings.  Under  the 
Middle  Empire  a “ steward  of  the  provision-house  and  superintendent  of 
the  horns,  feathers,  and  claws  ” (see  p.  96)  boasts  that  he  had  “ caused 
the  offerings  for  the  gods  and  the  funerary  gifts  for  the  deceased  to  be 
brought,  according  to  the  command  of  Horus,  the  lord  of  the  palace,” 
i.e.  the  king.2  This  custom  probably  only  existed  in  those  early  ages 
when  there  were  but  a few  men  of  high  station  who  were  allowed  by 
the  gracious  permission  of  the  king  to  construct  their  tombs  near  the 
tomb  of  the  monarch.  Later,  the  number  of  tombs  increased  to  such 
an  extent  that  the  custom  fell  into  disuse  of  itself ; the  funerary  offering 
however  was  always  called  “ the  offering  that  the  king  gives,”  though 
it  was  brought,  as  was  natural,  by  the  relations  of  the  deceased.  It  was 
the  most  sacred  duty  which  the  latter  had  to  fulfil,  to  present  the 
offerings  regularly  to  their  ancestors,  to  keep  up  their  tombs,  and  thus 
to  “ cause  their  names  to  live.”  As  it  was  impossible  however  to 
know  what  might  happen  to  a family  after  many  centuries,  whether 
indeed  it  might  be  in  existence  or  whether  the  property  might  suffice  to 
pay  for  the  necessary  offerings,  most  men  of  rank  even  under  the  Old 

j L-  D-.  i>-  35- 

: Leyden,  v.  7 (L.  A.).  Cp.  also  L.  D. , ii.  22  b,  where  in  addition  to  the  funeral  offerings,  the 
treasure  {i.e.  the  clothes,  rouge,  and  oil)  is  also  given  from  the  royal  house  ; see  also  R.  J.  H.,  93, 
where  the  funerary  offerings  are  supplied  by  the  royal  barns,  houses  of  silver,  workshops,  etc. 


324 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Empire  established  special  endowments  for  the  cost  of  their  funerary 
offerings,  and  for  the  maintenance  of  a special  priest,  the  servant  of  the 
ka.  Sometimes  certain  villages  or  plots  of  ground  were  put  aside  with 
their  taxes  or  produce  for  the  house  of  eternity, — i.e.  for  these  endowments;1 2 
sometimes  contracts  were  concluded  with  the  priesthood  of' a town,  who, 
in  consideration  of  a higher  remuneration,  undertook  to  supply  the  neces- 
sary offerings  to  the  tomb  for  ever."  Special  deeds  were  drawn  up  for  the 
administration  of  these  endowments;  and  from  the  way  in  which  provision 
was  made  for  various  casualties,  it  is  natural  to  conclude  that  these  endow- 
ments often  met  with  mischances.  For  instance,  if  a tomb  possessed 
but  one  funerary  priest,  he  would  be  able  alone  to  dispose  of  the  endowed 
property,  and  he  might  prefer  at  his  death  to  divide  it  amongst  his  children, 
instead  of  making  it  over  to  the  one  of  his  sons  who  was  to  succeed  him 
in  his  office.3  If,  on  the  other  hand,  as  was  usually  the  case  with  the 
great  men  of  the  Old  Empire,  many  funerary  priests  were  appointed, 
disputes  often  arose  about  the  revenues  of  the  endowment.4 * 

It  would  be  very  interesting  to  find  out  how  long  these  provisions 
lasted,  and  for  what  length  of  time  the  tomb  endowments  were  respected. 
I fear  not  for  very  long.  Under  the  Middle  Empire  the  nomarchs  of 
Beni  Hasan  and  Bersheh  were  obliged  to  re-establish  the  tomb-abodes  of 
their  ancestors.0  Thus  the  length  of  time  between  the  6th  and  the  I 2th 
dynasty  had  sufficed  for  the  provision  for  the  regular  maintenance  of  these 
tombs  to  lapse.  In  the  same  way  the  tomb  of  the  oft-mentioned  Chnem- 
hotep  at  Beni  Hasan  was  certainly  left  unguarded  at  the  beginning  of  the 
New  Empire,  otherwise  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  four  scribes  of 
that  time  to  have  immortalised  themselves  with  the  remark  that  they  had 
here  admired  the  temple  of  king  Chufu  ;6  visitors  do  not  scribble  upon 
the  walls  of  a chapel  that  is  being  regularly  used  for  worship.  Probably 
therefore  the  tomb  of  this  mighty  ruler  was  at  that  time  empty  and  for- 
saken, and  the  endowment  which  had  been  made  for  eternity  had  already 
come  to  an  end.  This  will  not  surprise  us  when  we  remember  that 
important  estates  were  tied  up  in  endowments  to  serve  this  most  useless 
purpose.  This  was  such  an  unnatural  state  of  affairs  that  from  time  to  time 
a reaction  was  sure  to  set  in  against  it.  This  reaction  need  not  have  been 
a violent  one  ; when  a family  became  extinct  or  went  down  in  the  world 
so  much  that  the  members  were  unable  to  threaten  the  administrators  of 
the  endowment  and  to  insist  that  they  should  perform  their  duty,  the 
latter  gradually  dropped  the  maintenance  of  the  offerings.  Even  if  a 
family  maintained  their  power  and  their  riches  for  centuries,  they  would  be 
obliged  after  a time  to  be  faithless  to  the  ordinances  of  their  fathers  ; for 

1 The  lists  of  villages  found  in  the  mastabahs  may  refer  simply  to  this  endowed  property  ; they 
would  not  then  represent  the  whole  property  of  the  deceased.  The  remarkable  list  of  lands  at  Beni- 
Hasan  is  certainly  a list  of  the  endowments  (Champ.  Not.,  ii.  336  ff.). 

2 See  the  instances  given,  p.  145.  3 Mar.  Mon.  div.,  64,  9-12.  4 R.  J.  H.,  i. ; Mar.  Mast.,  31S. 

5 Dhutnacht  of  Bersheh  restored  three  tombs  in  Sheikh  Said  (L.  D.,  ii.  112  e,  113  b,  c). 

Clmemhotep  of  Beni  Hasan  restored  the  “injured”  tombs  of  his  fathers  (ib.  125,  161  ff. ). 

6 L.  D.,  vi.  22. 


XIII 


THE  DEAD 


325 


each  generation  constructed  at  least  one  new  tomb  for  which  it  was 
necessary  to  provide  an  endowment  out  of  the  estates.  Under  these 
conditions  we  cannot  blame  even  the  richest  families  when  they  trans- 
ferred an  endowment  belonging  to  the  tomb  of  a long-forgotten  ancestor 
to  the  tomb  of  one  they  had  lately  lost. 

When  once  the  maintenance  of  the  funerary  worship  of  a tomb  ceased, 
its  doom  was  certain.  It  was  closed  and  left  to  its  fate,  and  I need  not 
add,  after  what  I have  said  in  the  seventh  chapter,  that  its  fate  was  robbery 
and  violation.  The  state  did  what  it  could  to  protect  the  tombs,  but  these 
small  uninhabited  buildings,  situated  far  from  the  town,  in  an  extensive 
and  often  hilly  region,  were  difficult  to  guard  in  spite  of  the  walls  which 
surrounded  them  and  the  police  who  had  charge  of  them.  Even  if  robbers 
were  kept  off  from  outside,  there  were  thieves  in  their  midst  who  were 
still  more  dangerous.  The  workmen  who  built  and  decorated  the  new 
tombs  plundered  the  old  ones  ; the  art  of  cutting  passages  in  the  rock, 
which  was  carried  to  such  perfection  in  the  service  of  those  lately  deceased, 
was  turned  to  account  by  them  in  making  subterranean  ways  from  an  open 
tomb  into  the  interior  of  one  strictly  closed.  Whether  the  state  gave  them 
their  wages  or  not,  we  can  easily  understand,  from  what  we  have  already 
related  (p.  125),  how  difficult  it  was  for  these  starving  people  to  withstand 
the  temptation  of  appropriating  the  treasures  hidden  in  the  ground  all 
round  them — treasures  also  which  were  greatly  exaggerated  by  report. 
They  did  their  work  of  clearance  so  well  that  it  is  rarely  we  find  a tomb 
inviolate  ; they  were  all  plundered  in  old  times. 

The  class  of  tombs  most  in  danger  were  of  course  those  of  the  royal 
families.  A few  ornaments  might  be  found  on  the  bodies  of  private 
individuals,  but,  according  to  popular  tradition,  the  body  of  a Pharaoh 
would  be  a real  gold  mine.  Special  precautions  were  therefore  taken 
with  regard  to  the  tombs  of  the  kings.  Over  the  bodies  of  the  rulers  of 
the  Old  and  Middle  Empires  were  erected  the  mighty  pyramids,  and  their 
massive  walls  were  of  such  immense  strength  that  it  was  impossible  to  break 
through  them  by  violence,  whilst  the  small  passage  through  which  the 
coffin  was  introduced  into  the  inner  chamber  was  plugged  up  in  the  most 
ingenious  manner  with  great  blocks  of  granite.  Difficulties  of  this  kind 
were  of  course  impracticable  for  the  common  thieves  of  the  necropolis, 
and  the  robbers,  who  overcame  them  and  made  their  way  into  the  pyra- 
mids, did  so  by  destructive  works  on  a vast  scale,  which  were  certainly 
carried  on  with  the  knowledge  of  the  rulers  of  the  state. 

The  method  by  which  the  government  tried  to  protect  the  bodies  of 
the  Theban  Pharaohs  was  not  so  successful.  The  tombs  of  those  kings 
who  ruled  after  the  18  th  dynasty  were  situate  outside  the  necropolis  in 
the  rocky  valley  of  Biban  el  Moluk,  separated  from  the  Theban  City 
of  the  Dead  by  the  high  mountain  Asas.  The  sides  of  this  valley  are 
steep  and  rocky,  and  it  is  entered  by  but  one  good  road,  a circuitous  route 
of  two  hours,  with  such  a narrow  opening  into  the  Valley  of  the  Tombs 
that  it  can  be  easily  guarded  by  a few  men.  Direct  from  western  Thebes 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


326 


it  was  possible  to  cross  the  rocky  steep  walls  of  the  Gebel  Asas  at  two 
points  only  ; there  was  also  another  difficult  entrance  from  the  valley 
behind  Biban  el  Moluk.  These  three  footpaths  over  the  mountains  were 
guarded  by  military  outposts,  and  the  ruins  of  their  stone  huts  are  still 
to  be  seen  ; another  outpost  was  stationed  at  the  entrance  to  the  valley. 
Thus,  according  to  human  calculations,  it  seemed  that  the  Valley  of  the 
Tombs  of  the  Kings  was  safe  from  the  entrance  of  all  unauthorised  persons. 
Did  thieves  succeed  in  crossing  the  rocky  mountain  at  an  unguarded 
part,  it  would  be  scarcely  possible  in  that  narrow  valley  for  them  to 
escape  the  eyes  of  the  watch.  The  greed  of  man,  however,  can  always 
find  ways  to  overcome  difficulties  which  in  the  natural  course  appear 
unsurpassable,  and  the  tombs  in  the  Biban  el  Moluk  fell  victims  to  the 
thieves  of  the  20th  dynasty.  We  have  already  shown  in  the  seventh 
chapter  how  thoroughly  they  carried  out  their  work. 

It  was  not  necessary  that  the  funerary  worship  of  the  Pharaohs  should 
suffer  because  their  tombs  were  injured.  Under  the  Old  Empire  as  well 
as  under  the  New  Empire,  the  funerary  services  were  held,  not  in  a chamber 
of  the  king’s  tomb,  but  in  a great  temple  built  for  the  purpose.  At 
Memphis  these  temples  were  situate  quite  close  to  the  pyramids,  but  at 
Thebes  they  were  built  far  away  from  the  tombs  in  the  general  necropolis 
proper,  there  being  no  room  for  buildings  in  the  narrow  Biban  el  Moluk. 
Under  the  New  Empire  the  king  alone  was  not  worshipped  in  these 
temples  ; they  were  dedicated  also  to  Amon  and  his  co-deities  ; the 
Pharaoh  was  one  amongst  these  gods,  an  exceeding  great  honour  being 
thus  paid  to  him.  At  this  time  therefore  we  no  longer  hear  of  the  priests 
of  the  kings,  for  the  clergy  of  these  temples,  being  in  the  first  place  priests 
of  Amon  like  other  clergy,  would  only  take  the  former  title  in  addition. 

Under  the  Old  Empire  it  was  otherwise  many  men  of  rank  of  that 
time  were  called  priests  of  the  kings,  some  even  who  held  six  different 
priestly  offices  together  with  their  previous  charge.1  These  priests  are  gener- 
ally called  “ Prophets  of  the  pyramid  of  the  king,”  seldom  prophets  of  the 
king  himself— -the  latter  title  seems  to  indicate  that  the  monarch  enjoyed 
purely  divine  honours  hi  addition  to  the  adoration  paid  to  him  as  a deceased 
king  in  the  pyramid  temple.  This  worship  of  the  kings  lasted  a long  time, 
for  even  as  late  as  the  time  of  Psammetichus  we  find  priests  of  Menes  and 
of  D’eser.  Thus  these  celebrated  kings  of  antiquity  were  revered  for  more 
than  two  thousand  years,  though  there  were  probably  long  periods  when 
their  worship  was  interrupted  owing  to  political  circumstances.  Political 
hatred  in  Egypt  stood  in  no  awe  of  the  tombs,  even  when  they  belonged 
to  a past  age.  Prof.  Petrie  has  conclusively  shown  that  all  the  funerary 
temples  of  the  kings  of  the  Old  Empire  were  ruined  in  an  outbreak  of 
political  rage.  The  destruction  of  these  temples  is  such  as  can  be 
explained  by  no  other  hypothesis.  For  love  of  gain,  treasure-seekers 
might  break  into  pyramids  and  smash  granite  sarcophagi,  but  men  who 
threw  the  statues  of  kings  into  wells  or  broke  them  into  atoms,  could  only 

1 Mar.  Mast. , 19S-199. 


XIII 


THE  DEAD 


be  actuated  by  fanaticism.  In  later  times  in  Thebes  we  see  an  instance 
of  a similar  though  less  barbarous  act  of  revenge  perpetrated  on  a hated 
form  of  government.  It  must  strike  every  one  who  goes  through  the  tombs 
belonging  to  the  second  half  of  the  I 8th  dynasty,  that  there  is  generally 
a hole  in  the  wall  of  the  tomb  in  the  place  where  the  name  of  the 
deceased  ought  to  be  inscribed,  so  that  a long  search  is  often  required  in 
order  to  find  the  name  perhaps  in  some  dark  corner  of  the  ceiling.  After 
the  victory  of  the  heretics  under  Chuen’eten,  these  fanatics  revenged 
themselves  thus  on  the  adherents  of  the  'orthodox  government  they  had 
overthrown. 


TOMBS  IN  THE  NECROPOLIS,  FROM  A STELE  AT  GIZEH. 


FROM  A BOOK  OF  PRESCRIPTIONS  OF  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  NEW  EMPIRE  (Eb.  88,  13). 


When  the  wise  Dauuf,  the  son  of  Chert’e,  voyaged  up  the  Nile  with  his 
son  Pepy,  to  introduce  him  into  the  “ court  school  of  books,”  he  admonished 
him  thus  : “ Give  thy  heart  to  learning  and  love  her  like  a mother,  for 
there  is  nothing  that  is  so  precious  as  learning.”  1 Whenever  or  wherever 
we  come  upon  Egyptian  literature,  we  find  the  same  enthusiastic  rever- 
ence for  learning  (or  as  it  is  expressed  more  concretely,  for  books). 
If  however,  we  expect  to  find  ideal  motives  for  this  high  estimation  of 
learning,  we  shall  be  disappointed.  The  Egyptian  valued  neither  the 
elevating  nor  ennobling  influence  which  the  wise  men  of  antiquity 
imputed  to  him,  and  still  less  the  pure  pleasure  which  we  of  the  modern 
world  feel  at  the  recognition  of  truth.  The  wise  Dauuf  himself  gives  us 
the  true  answer  to  our  questions  on  this  subject  ; after  he  has  described  in 
well-turned  verses  all  the  troubles  and  vexations  of  the  various  professions, 
he  concludes  in  favour  of  wisdom  in  the  last  two  lines,  which  have  been 
frequently  quoted  by  later  writers  : 


The  Egyptians  valued  learning  because  of  the  superiority  which,  in 
matters  of  this  life,  learned  men  possessed  over  the  unlearned;  learning  thus 
divided  the  ruling  class  from  those  who  were  ruled.  He  who  followed  learned 
studies,  and  became  a scribe , had  put  his  feet  on  the  first  rung  of  the  great 
ladder  of  official  life,  and  all  the  offices  of  the  state  were  open  to  him.  He 
was  exempted  from  all  the  bodily  work  and  trouble  with  which  others  were 
tormented.  The  poor  ignorant  man,  “ whose  name  is  unknown,  is  like  a 
heavily-laden  donkey,  he  is  driven  by  the  scribe,”  while  the  fortunate 
man  who  “ has  set  his  heart  upon  learning,  is  above  work,  and  becomes  a 
wise  prince.”3  Therefore  “set  to  work  and  become  a scribe,  for  then  thou 
shalt  be  a leader  of  men.4  The  profession  of  scribe  is  a princely  profession, 
his  writing  materials  and  his  rolls  of  books  bring  pleasantness  and  riches.”  0 


CHAPTER  XIV 


LEARNING 


“ Behold  there  is  no  profession  which  is  not  governed. 
It  is  only  the  learned  man  who  rules  himself.”  2 


2 Sail.,  2,  9,  1=1 
4 An.,  3,  6,  3. 


='An.,  4,  6.  Quoted,  e.g.  Sail.,  i,  6,  8. 


5 An.,  5,  io,  8 ff. 


1 Sail.,  2,  4,  2-5. 

3 A.  Z. , 1880,  p.  96. 


CHAP.  XIV 


LEARNING 


3*9 


The  scribe  never  lacks  food,  what  he  wants  is  given  to  him  out  of  the 
royal  store  : “ the  learned  man  has  enough  to  eat  because  of  his  learning.”  1 * 
He  who  is  industrious  as  a scribe  and  does  not  neglect  his  books,  he  may 
become  a prince,  or  perhaps  attain  to  the  council  of  the 
thirty , and  when  there  is  a question  of  sending  out  an  am- 
bassador, his  name  is  remembered  at  court."  If  he  is  to 
succeed,  however,  he  must  not  fail  to  be  diligent,  for  we  read 
in  one  place  : “ the  scribe  alone  directs  the  work  of  all 
men,  but  if  the  work  of  books  is  an  abomination  to  him, 
then  the  goddess  of  fortune  is  not  with  him.”  3 

Therefore  he  who  is  wise  will  remain  faithful  to  learn- 
ing, and  will  pray  Thoth  the  god  of  learning  to  give  him 
understanding  and  assistance.  Thoth  is  the  “ baboon  with 
shining  hair  and  amiable  face,4  the  letter  - writer  for  the 
gods,”  5 he  will  not  forget  his  earthly  colleagues  if  they  call 
upon  him  and  speak  thus  to  him  : “ Come  to  me  and  guide 
me,  and  make  me  to  act  justly  in  thine  office.  Thine  office 
is  more  beautiful  than  all  offices.  . . . Come  to  me,  guide  the  god  thoth 
me  ! 1 am  a servant  in  thine  house.  Let  all  the  world  OF  HIS  sacked 

tell  of  thy  might,  that  all  men  may  say  : ‘ Great  is  that  animal. 
which  Thoth  hath  done.’  Let  them  come  with  their  ^ ' D"  U1' 
children,  to  cause  them  to  be  marked  as  scribes.  Thine 
office  is  a beautiful  office,  thou  strong  protector.  It  rejoices  those  who 
are  invested  with  it.”  G 

The  boy  who  was  intended  for  the  profession  of  scribe  was  sent  when 
quite  young  into  the  instruction  house , the  school,  where,  even  if  he  was  of 
low  rank,  he  was  “ brought  up  with  the  children  of  princes  and  called  to 
this  profession.”  ’ In  old  times  the  school  for  scribes  was  attached  to  the 
court  ; the  schools  of  the  New  Empire  must  have  been  organised 
differently,  for  it  seems  that  the  various  government  departments,  e.g.  the 
house  of  silver,  etc.,  had  their  own  schools,  in  which  the  candidates  for 
the  respective  official  positions  were  educated.  From  various  passages  in 
the  school  literature  we  know  that  the  individual  training  of  the  young 
scribes  was  carried  on  by  one  of  the  higher  officials  of  the  department 
to  whom  they  were  assigned  as  pupils  and  subordinates.  One  of  these  pupils 
writes  to  his  tutor  : “ I was  with  thee  since  1 was  brought  up  as  a child  ; 
thou  didst  beat  my  back  and  thy  instructions  went  into  my  ear.”  9 From 
this  we  may  assume  that  there  was  no  disconnection  at  all  between  the 
early  teaching  and  the  later  higher  instruction  ; it  seems  that  the  same  old 
official  who  initiated  his  disciple  10  into  his  duties,  had  also  to  superintend 
his  work  when  he  had  to  learn  the  first  elements  of  knowledge. 


1 Prisse,  15,  13.  2 An->  5)  9>  5 ; ib.  17,  7. 

3 Sail.,  1,  6,  8.  4 An.,  3,  4,  12.  5 An.,  5,  9,  2. 

*'  An.,  5,  9,  2-10,  2.  I have  amended  the  text  in  one  place,  where  it  was  injured. 

' An.,  5,  22,  6 ff.  Cp.  also  Sail.,  2,  4,  1.  8 Sail.,  2,  3,  9 ff.  9 An.,  4,  8,  7. 

10  An.,  5,  18,  1.  An.  5,  22,  8. 


330 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAT. 


It  was  quite  possible  for  a boy  to  enter  a different  profession  from 
that  for  which  he  was  educated  at  school  ; Bekenchons  the  high  priest  of 
Amon  relates  that,  from  his  fifth  to  his  sixteenth  year,  he  had  been 
“captain  in  the  royal  stable  for  education,”1  and  had  then  entered  the 
temple  of  Amon  in  the  lowest  rank  of  priesthood.  After  serving  as  a 
cadet,  as  we  should  say,  he  entered  the  ecclesiastical  profession.  The  stable 
for  education  must  have  been  a sort  of  military  school,  in  which  boys  of 
rank  who  were  intended  to  be  officers  in  the  army  became  as  a rule 
“ captains  of  the  stable.”  2 

Fortunately  our  sources  of  information  enable  us  to  follow  the  broad 
outlines  of  the  form  and  kind  of  instruction  which  was  given  in  this 
ancient  period.  The  school  discipline  was  severe.  The  boy  was  not 
allowed  to  oversleep  himself : “ The  books  are  (already)  in  the  hands  of 
thy  companions,  take  hold  of  thy  clothes,  and  call  for  thy  sandals,”  says 
the  scribe  crossly  as  he  awakes  the  scholar. 

Lesson  time,  the  results  of  which  were  said  to  “ endure  for  ever  like 
the  mountains,”  3 took  up  half  the  day,  when  “ noon  was  announced  ” the 
children  left  the  school  shouting  for  joy. 4 The  food  of  the  school  children 

must  have  been  rather  sparing — three  rolls  of  bread  and  two  jugs  of  beer 
had  to  suffice  for  a schoolboy;'1'  this  was  brought  to  him  daily  by  his  mother 
from  home.6  On  the  other  hand  there  was  plenty  of  flogging,  and  the  foun- 
dation of  all  the  teaching  was  : “ The  youth  has  a back,  he  attends  when  it 
is  beaten.”  ‘ A former  schoolboy  writes  thus  to  his  old  tutor,  from  whom 
he  has  received  yet  severer  punishments  : “ Thou  hast  made  me  buckle 
to  since  the  time  that  I was  one  of  thy  pupils.  I spent  my  time  in  the 
lock-up  ; he  bound  my  limbs.  He  sentenced  me  to  three  months,  and  I 
was  bound  in  the  temple.”  s 

The  Egyptians  justified  this  severity  in  theory.  The  usual  argument 
was  that  man  was  able  to  tame  all  animals  ; the  Ka’ere,  which  was  brought 
from  Ethiopia,  learnt  to  understand  speech  and  singing;  lions  were  instructed, 
horses  broken  in,  hawks  were  trained,  and  why  should  not  a young  scribe 
be  broken  in  in  the  same  way  ? 0 As  however  he  was  not  quite  on  a par 
with  lions  or  horses,  these  pedagogues  used  admonishment  also  as  a 
useful  expedient.  This  was  applied  unceasingly  ; whether  the  schoolboy 
was  “in  bed  or  awake”  he  was  always  instructed  and  admonished.10  Some- 
times he  hears  : “ O scribe,  be  not  lazy,  otherwise  thou  wilt  have  to  be 
made  obedient  by  correction.  Do  not  spend  thy  time  in  wishing,  or  thou 
wilt  come  to  a bad  end. 

“ Let  thy  mouth  read  the  book  in  thy  hand,  take  advice  from  those  who 


i 


cs 

*wvw\ 


(statue  of  Bekenchons  at  Munich)  ; 


used  in  this  sense. 

- We  must  not  therefore  conclude  that  each  captain  of  the  stable  was  a boy. 

3 M.  E.  : Sail.,  2,  9,  4.  4 M.  E.  : Sail.,  2,  10,  2.  5 M.  E.  : Sail.,  2, 

B Tap.  de  Boul.,  E 20,  20.  7 An.,  5,  8,  6. 

8 An.,  5,  18,  1-3.  The  temple  doubtless  signifies  here  the  prison  of  the  temple. 

9 Boh,  3,  9 f.  ; An.,  5,  8,  7 fif  =An.  3,  4,  1 ff.  10  Boh,  3,  7. 


is  often 


10,  6. 


XIV 


LEARNING 


33i 


know  more  than  thou  dost.  Prepare  thyself  for  the  office  of  a prince, 
that  thou  mayst  attain  thereto  when  thou  art  old.  Happy  the  scribe 
who  is  skilled  in  all  his  official  duties.  Be  strong  and  active  in  thy  daily 
work. 

“ Spend  no  day  in  idleness,  or  thou  wilt  be  flogged.  For  the  ears  of  the 
young  are  placed  on  the  back,  and  he  hears  when  he  is  flogged. 

“ Let  thy  heart  attend  to  what  I say  ; that  will  bring  thee  to  happiness. 
. . . Be  zealous  in  asking  counsel  — do  not  neglect  it  in  writing;  do 
not  get  disgusted  with  it.  Let  thy  heart  attend  to  my  words,  thus  wilt 
thou  find  thy  happiness.”  1 

As  soon  as  the  scholars  had  thoroughly  mastered  the  secrets  of  the 
art  of  writing,  the  instruction  consisted  chiefly  in  giving  them  passages  to 
copy,  so  that  they  might  at  the  same  time  practise  their  calligraphy  and 
orthography  and  also  form  their  style.  Sometimes  the  teacher  chose  a 
text  without  much  regard  to  the  contents  — a fairy-tale,"  a passage 
from  some  religious  or  magical  book,3  a modern  4 or  an  ancient  poem  :j — 
the  latter  was  especially  preferred,  when  it  would  impress  the  youth  by  its 
ingenious  enigmatical  language.  More  frequently,  however,  he  chose  his 
specimen,  so  that  it  might  tend  to  the  education  of  his  pupil  ; he  gave  him 
a sbayt,  that  is  an  instruction , to  copy.  These  instructions,  which  we  shall 
consider  more  closely  in  the  next  chapter,  are  of  two  kinds.  In  the  first 
place  most  of  those  of  the  time  of  the  Middle  Empire  contain  rules  for 
wise  conduct  and  good  manners,  which  are  put  into  the  mouth  of  a wise 
man  of  old  times. 6 The  others,  which  are  of  later  date,  are  instructions 
in  the  form  of  letters,  a fictitious  correspondence  between  tutor  and 
pupil,1  in  which  the  former  is  supposed  to  impart  wisdom  and  at  the  same 
time  a fine  epistolary  style.  It  was  of  course  only  exceptionally  that 
the  teacher  would  compose  these  letters  himself,  he  preferred  to  take  them 
word  for  word  out  of  books,  or  sometimes  to  paraphrase  some  other 
person’s  letter.  s This  did  not  however  prevent  many  tutors  and  pupils 
from  signing  their  own  names  to  these  old  letters,  as  if  they  were  really 
carrying  on  a correspondence  with  one  another. 

The  number  of  these  letters  which  have  come  down  to  us  in  these 
copy-books  and  stelae  is  comparatively  speaking  very  great  ; a much 
greater  number  than  we  have  of  any  other  literary  composition.  This  need 
not  surprise  us,  for  it  was  more  important  to  the  young  scholar  to  have 

1 An.,  3,  3,  9 fif.  =An.,  5,  8,  1 IT.  2 E.g.  that  of  the  d’Oibiney  and  Sail.,  I. 

3 Religious:  L.  D.,  vi.  115  ff.  Magical  : Sail.,  4.  4 Sail.,  3. 

5 E.g.  the  hymn  to  the  Nile,  Sail.,  2 ; An.,  7. 

G Proverbs  of  Ptahhotep  and  of  Ivagemn’e  in  the  Pap.  Prisse  ; teaching  of  Dauuf  in  Sail.,  2, 
An.,  7;  teaching  of  Amenemhe’t,  ib.  Pap.  Millingen  at  Berlin;  Proverbs  of  :Eney,  on  papyri  at 
Gizeh  and  stelae  at  Berlin. 

' It  is  evident  that  these  letters  are  mostly  fictitious,  partly  from  their  contents,  which  are 
usually  couched  in  general  terms,  and  partly  from  the  fact  that  where  special  circumstances  are 
mentioned,  round  numbers  are  always  employed. 

8 Therefore  we  find  the  same  letter  repeated  in  the  various  school  copy-books  under  different 
names,  e.g.  An.,  3,  5,  5 ff.  = An.,  4,  9,  4 ff.  An.,  4,  11,8  fF.  = Sail. , 1,  9,  9 ft’,  etc.  Sometimes, 
as  an  exception,  of  course  a tutor  may  have  given  a real  letter  instead  of  a fictitious  one  as  a copy. 


332 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


chap. 


C.T3 
{/)  c. 

<u  QJ 

a .P 


£ « 3 

r-“  *— 

o o ^ 


« £ 
c ?-> 


1 >■ 
-C  o . 


- O o 

g«8-^ 

P tXO  4? 


2 'w3 
o'  Si  .h 
eu,c  ^ 


— — o 
_1-.‘2  <u 

Tj  — 


* * 


£ g bo 

O a>  ^ 
•*-*  SZ,  0J 


oj  5 "a; 


O .J2 


o w 

o |2  c 
ts  £ < 


in  his  tomb  his  copy- 
book, the  only 
achievement  of  his 
youthful  powers,  than 
for  the  man  to  have 
his  favourite  book, 
apart  from  the  fact 
that  the  friends  and 
relations  would  find 
it  easier  to  part  with 
a worthless  copy-book 
than  with  a really 
serviceable  writing, 
which  might  be  of 
further  use  to  the 
living.  An  Egyptian 
copy-book  is  easily 
recognised ; its  size 
is  peculiar  as  well  as 
its  shape  ; the  pages 
are  short,  and  contain 
a few  long  lines,  while 
on  the  upper  edge  of 
these  pages  there  are 
usually  the  tutor’s 
corrections,  which  are 
generally  of  a calli- 
graphic nature.  It  is 
interesting  to  find  on 
one  of  these  school 
papyri  the  date,  the 
24th  of  Epiphi  writ- 
ten in  on  the  right- 
hand  side ; three  pages 
before  we  find  the 
23rd  of  Epiphi,  and 
three  pages  after,  the 
25  th  Epiphi;  evid- 
ently three  pages  was 
the  daily  task  the 
pupil  had  to  write. 
This  may  not  seem 
much,  but  we  must 
remember  that  these 
pupils  had  at  the  same 
time  to  do  some  prac- 


XIV 


LEARNING 


333 


tical  work  in  the  department.  We  learn  this  also  from  their  copy-books, 
not  from  that  part  which  was  shown  to  the  teacher,  but  from  the  reverse 
sides.  The  back  of  the  papyrus  rolls,  which  was  supposed  to  be  left 
blank,  was  often  used  by  the  Egyptians  as  a note-book  ; and  a few  hasty 
words  jotted  down  there  by  the 
young  scribe  are  often  of  more 
interest  to  us  than  the  careful 
writing  on  the  other  side.  There 
are  many  of  these  scribbles  on  the 
backs  of  the  copy-books,  and  the 


--WO. 


r,  iJ 

V • 


•*  • ••  M* 

; ’ 9 ss-,  _ 

V V t>  ^ 1 1 nil—  ^ 


From  the  earliest  ages  the 
greatest 


FROM  THE  REVERSE  OF  THE  PAPYRUS  SALL1ER  IV. 

(page  14). 

Below  is  a bull,  above  him  a sum — 109  clots,  one  group 
of  which  (as  we  see  by  the  writing  at  the  side  — 
“together  544”)  signifies  the  addition  of  five  sacks 
of  corn,  bread,  or  such  like,  at  a time  ; the  second, 
of  eight  at  a time  ; the  third,  of  one  at  a time. 


Egyptians  had  the 
veneration  for  their  writing, 
which  they  considered  to  be 
the  foundation  of  all  education. 

They  called  it  the  divine  words , and  believed  it  to  have  been  an  inven- 
tion of  the  god  Thoth,  who  had  taught  it  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Nile  valley.  In  fact,  though  hieroglyphs  may  not  have  been  invented  by 
an  Egyptian  god,  they  were  especially  an  Egyptian  invention,  and  one  of 
which  that  nation  had  every  reason  to  be  proud.  For  in  spite  of  its 
complexity  the  Egyptian  is  one  of  the  best  and  the  easiest  to  be  read  of 
all  the  various  kinds  of  writing  that  have  ever  been  current  in  the  world. 
The  form  which  we  find  in  historical  times  is  certainly  not  the  original 
one.  It  is  now'  pretty  well  proved  that  the  most  ancient  hieroglyphic 
writing  was  purely  phonetic,  somewhat  like  the  Phoenician.  It  pos- 

sessed the  same  peculiarity  as  the  Phoenician  and  various  Semitic 
styles  of  writing,  viz.  as  a rule  the  consonants  only  of  the  words  were 
written.  Chddeb,  to  kill,  was  written  chdb,  and  mosd'ed',  to  hate,  was 
written  msd'd  ; the  reader  had  to  guess  from  the  context  whether  the 


334 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


word  was  chdb  or  msd'd',  as  written,  or  perhaps  chadbi,  I killed  ; masdedi, 
I hated. 

It  may  seem  strange  to  us  that  all  these  nations  stopped  half-way  as 
it  were,  and  did  not  go  on  to  indicate,  by  other  signs,  how  the  consonants 
were  to  be  respectively  vocalised,  or  whether  they  were  to  remain  without 
vowels.  When  we  understand  however  the  construction  of  these 
languages,  we  see  how  it  came  to  pass  that  the  vowels  had  a secondary 
position.  In  all  these  languages  the  meaning  of  the  word  is  generally 
contained  in  the  consonants,  whilst  the  vowels  are  added  as  a rule  to 
indicate  the  grammatical  forms.  If  we  take  for  instance  the  Arabic  word 
qatala,  he  killed,  the  meaning  of  killing  rests  in  the  three  consonants  qll, 
and  the  three  as,  with  which  these  consonants  are  united,  serve  merely  to 
designate  the  3rd  person  singular  of  the  active  perfect.  The  passive  form, 
he  was  killed,  is  expressed  by  the  vowels,  u,  i,  a,  and  is  therefore  qutila, 
the  infinitive  is  qutl,  the  imperative  qtul,  the  participle  qatil,  etc. — the 
consonants  of  the  word  always  remain  the  same,  whilst  the  vowels  are 
changed.  We  can  easily  understand  that  a nation,  speaking  a language 
of  this  kind,  should  naturally  come  to  consider  the  consonants  as  the  only 
essential  part  of  the  word,  and  to  find  it  sufficient  if  these  alone  were 
written. 

Originally,  therefore,  the  Egyptian  writing  consisted  only  of  the  fol- 
lowing twenty-one  consonants  : 


J 


o t 


m 


ra  h 


w 


□ p f 

A q (a  kind  of  k,  the  p)  g 

s=>  t'  (a  kind  of  t) 

d'  (a  kind  of  d) 

^ n 

h (a  hard  h)  < — =>  r and  1 

(—  u 1 sh  ® ch 

the  n of  the  Hebrew  or  an  allied  sound 
jj  a strong  peculiar  sound  (somewhat  like  the  y of  the 


a weak,  and 
Hebrew). 

Each  of  these  signs  stands  for  a short  word  with  similar  sound,  from 
which  it  derives  its  phonetic  worth  ; thus  o t is  probably  a roll  of  bread 
ta,  r is  properly  the  mouth  ro , w~w  n is  the  water  nu,  d 

the  hand  dot,  etc. 

The  god  Ptah  is  written  D 8,  the  thigh,  chopesh,  ^ the  name,  ran, 

Q X ( — V\_J 


'‘vVVVNA 


the  father,  ’ot,  (I  a,  the  vowels  of  these  words  being  simply  omitted. 


XIV 


LEARNING 


335 


In  a few  cases  only,  in  which  the  vowel  was  really  important  for  the  right 
reading  of  the  word,  the  Egyptians  tried  in  a way  to  indicate  the  same  in 
their  writing.  For  this  object  they  made  use  of  the  three  consonants 


.,  just  as  the  Hebrews  used  n h,  ' j,  l tv  \ at  the  same  time  these 


vowels  always  remained  uncertain,  being  exceptional  to  the  language. 
It  was  not  the  vowels  alone  which  were  suppressed  by  the  Egyptians  ; 
in  many  words  an  in,  n,  or  r was  omitted,  with  apparently  no  reason 
for  the  omission.  Thus  for  instance  they  wrote  as  a rule  sSBa  ft',  for 


rdmet',  many  (Coptic  rome):  other  examples  might  be  given. 


A method  of  writing  such  as  we  have  described  is  in  itself  both 
readable  and  comprehensible,  at  any  rate  by  the  people  who  write  it. 
Nevertheless  the  Egyptians  were  not  content  with  this  simple  system,  but 
even  in  prehistoric  times  they  developed  it  in  quite  a peculiar  manner. 
They  endeavoured  to  make  the  language  clearer  and  more  concise  by  the 
introduction  of  word  symbols.  In  order  to  express  the  word  nefer , the 

/wwv\ 

lute,  the  three  letters  would  rightly  be  necessary,  but  for  the  sake 

of  simplicity  they  drew  the  lute,  J , itself  instead  of  writing  the  three 
consonants  ; the  advantage  of  the  latter  plan  was  that  the  reader  knew 


' ' V 

exactly  what  word  was  meant,  which  was  not  so  apparent  by  the  letters  • 
If  they  wrote  sa,  the  goose,  with  jl  only,  and  cha,  the  flower,  with  @ only, 
or  with  © C > it  would  still  remain  doubtful  whether  the  reader  would 


immediately  connect  the  right  idea  with  those  signs  ; if  on  the  other  hand 
they  drew  the  goose,  , or  the  flower,  T , all  ambiguity  would  be 


avoided.  A great  number  of  these  picture  signs  being  introduced  into  the 
writing,  give  the  hieroglyphs  their  peculiar  character.  In  many  cases 
they  have  quite  superseded  the  purely  phonetic  writing  of  the  word  ; it 
would  occur  to  no  one  for  instance  to  write  per,  the  house,  <AL>  ; the  house 
itself,  \zzZ2,  was  always  drawn  instead.  There  were  however  a great 
number  of  words  which  could  not  be  drawn,  e.g.  good,  son,  or  to  go  out ; 
they  therefore  went  a step  further  and  substituted  words  with  a similar 
sound  which  could  be  easily  drawn.  In  order  to  write  nofer , good,  they 

had  recourse  to  nefer,  the  lute,  J ; sa,  the  son,  was  replaced  by  sa,  the 

goose,  and  for  per,  to  go  out,  they  substituted  per,  the  house,  ddl. 


Further,  as  words  such  as  good  and  son  occurred  much  more  frequently  than 
lute  or  goose,  the  signs  ^ and  ^ were  in  a great  measure  turned  aside  from 
their  primitive  signification,  and  if  possible  the  words  which  they  originally 


336 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


represented  were  written  in  some  other  fashion.  Finally,  many  short 
words,  the  signs  for  which  were  often  used  variously,  lost  their  meaning, 
and  became  mere  syllabic  signs  which  could  be  employed  in  any  word  in 


which  that  syllable  occurred. 


For  instance,  with  the  signs 


0 , no  one  thought  of  the  words  cha,  the  flower,  or  pa,  to  fly,  or  nu , the  jar, 
which  they  originally  represented  ; they  became  mere  phonetic  syllabic 
signs  without  any  special  signification.  In  the  same  way  dhkti,  the  draught- 


board, became  the  sign  for  the  syllable  inn  ; and 


(1 


, the  fan,  a sign  for  the 


syllable  ms,  etc. 

In  picture-writing  of  this  kind  it  was  impossible  to  guard  against  all 
misunderstandings,  and  the  reader  might  often  feel  doubtful  as  to  what 
idea  was  intended  by  a certain  sign.  For  instance,  with  the  sign  of  the 
ear,  gt)  , it  might  be  impossible  to  know  whether  it  stood  for  masd'rt,  the  ear, 
or  for  sod' m,  to  hear,  or  ’ edn , the  ear,  or  ’odn,  to  substitute,  for  it  was  used  as 
a sign  for  all  these  words.  A simple  expedient  was  then  adopted — these 
various  words  were  defined  in  the  following  manner  : the  sign  ^ was 
used  as  the  final  or  initial  consonant  of  one  or  the  other  word.  Thus 


they  wrote  'edn,  the  ear,  (j  ; 'odn,  to  substitute,  dfi  ( and  sod'in,  to 
hear,  g£) 


4 

In  words  which  rarely  occurred  they  might  write  out  all 


their  consonants  also,  c.g. 


, sod' m,  to  hear,  or  A_S.  pet,  heaven. 


Whether  a sign  was  to  be  used  for  the  whole  word,  whether  consonants 
were  to  be  added,  or  how  many  of  these  there  ought  to  be,  was  decided  in 

each  word  by  custom.  Hqt , beer,  was  written  phonetically  only,  ^ ^ 


whilst  hqat,  dominion,  was  written  with  the  sign  for  the  word  and  the  two 
terminal  consonants  J Per,  to  go  out,  retained  the  final  r,  P-p,  whilst 


the p was  not  written  ; in  pr,  house,  CT3],  on  the  contrary,  neither  consonant 
was  added. 

One  point  still  remained  which  might  lead  to  many  errors.  The 
Egyptians  wrote,  like  nearly  all  the  nations  of  antiquity,  without  any 
division  of  the  words,  and  there  was  therefore  the  danger  of  not  recognising 
the  words  aright.  It  would  be  possible,  for  instance,  to  read  m,  name, 


as  ro  n,  the  mouth  of,  or 


o,  masd'rt,  the  ear,  as  mes  d'rt,  born  of  the 


bird,  or 


chaui,  night,  as  the  dual  form  of  cha,  flower,  signifying 


simply  two  flowers.  This  danger  was  avoided  in  a most  ingenious  manner. 
At  the  end  of  the  various  words  were  added  the  so-called  determina- 
tives, signs  indicating  the  class  of  idea  to  which  the  words  belonged. 

Thus  after  all  words  signifying  man,  they  wrote  My,  after  those  in  which 


XIV 


LEARNING 


337 


the  mouth  was  concerned  q]),  after  abstract  ideas 


and  so  on.  All 


ambiguity  was  thus  avoided.  If  after 


there  followed 


, it  would 


signify  name ; 


with  l=)f=lO  signified  night,  because  there  followed 


was  deter- 


the  determinatives  of  the  sky  and  the  sun  ; and  [ j j I ^ 

mined  with  certainty  by  the  figure  of  the  ear  to  be  the  word  masd'ert , 
the  ear. 

These  determinatives  are  the  latest  invention  of  Egyptian  writing, 
and  we  are  able  to  observe  their  gradual  introduction  ; in  the  oldest 
inscriptions  they  are  used  but  rarely,  whilst  in  later  times  there  is  scarcely 
a word  which  is  not  written  without  one  or  even  several  determinatives. 
Which  determinative  ought  to  belong  to  a certain  word,  or  in  which  line  it 
ought  to  be  written,  is  again  decided  by  custom  ; J\,  to  go  out, 

receives  the  determinative  of  going  ; _a  *v\,  ’eu,  to  go,  is  written  in  the 


older  inscriptions  without  that  sign  ; while 


j\,  wo'er,  to  fly,  takes 


the  determinative  of  going  as  well  as  that  of  marching,  and  so  on. 

We  see  that  the  hieroglyphic  writing  was  very  complicated  (it  contains 


hr 


EXAMPLES  OF  HIEROGLYPHS  DRAWN  IN  FULL. 

Below  are  the  same  in  the  simpler  form,  as  we  use  them  (in  reverse  direction)  for  printing. 


altogether  about  500  signs  in  general  use),  but  it  is  at  the  same  time  one 
of  the  best  and  most  intelligible  of  the  Eastern  languages.  When  the 
orthography  of  the  various  words  has  been  learnt  by  practice,  it  is  easy  to 
read  a hieroglyphic  text.  The  determinative  shows  throughout  how  the 
words  are  to  be  divided,  and  it  enables  us  also  at  the  first  glance  to 
recognise  approximately  with  what  sort  of  word  we  have  to  do.  We 
must  not  underestimate  this  advantage  in  a language  where  the  vowels 
are  usually  omitted. 

The  appearance  of  the  hieroglyphs  is  also  much  more  pleasing  than 
that  of  the  cuneiform  ; when  the  signs  are  carefully  drawn  and  coloured 
with  their  natural  colours,  they  present  an  aspect  both  artistic  and  gay. 

z 


338 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Broad  spaces  of  architecture  were  often  brightened  up  by  this  form  of 
decoration,  and  we  may  even  say  that  most  of  the  inscriptions  on  the 
walls  and  pillars  of  the  Egyptian  buildings  are  really  purely  decorative. 
This  is  the  reason  of  the  empty  character  of  the  contents  of  these 
inscriptions  ; with  the  object  merely  of  decorating  the  architecture  with 
a few  lines  of  brightly-coloured  hieroglyphs,  the  architect  causes  the 
gods  to  be  assured  for  the  thousandth  time  that  they  have  put  all  countries 
under  the  throne  of  the  Pharaoh  their  son,  or  he  informs  us  a hundred 
times  that  his  Majesty  has  erected  this  sanctuary  of  good  eternal  stones 
for  his  father  the  god. 

It  is  evident,  from  the  carefulness  with  which  the  Egyptians  considered 
the  arrangement  and  order  of  the  hieroglyphs,  that  they  regarded  these 
monumental  inscriptions  chiefly  as  decorative.  It  is  an  inviolable  law  in 
Egyptian  calligraphy  that  the  individual  groups  of  hieroglyphs  forming 
the  inscription  must  take  a quadrangular  form.  If,  for  instance,  we  have 

the  three  signs  □ p,  o /,  and  * (determinative  of  the  sky),  which 

together  make  the  word  pet,  the  sky,  they  can  only  be  written 


not  nor  S . The  word  seeker , the  custom,  was  written  |1  <Jr>  or 

) <~=>  nor  J1  @ <=>  j! ; dor,  to  constrain,  was  written 


jj,  not 


Q-’ 


not 


nor 


L=/l. 


They  carried  this  endeavour  so  far 


that  with  words  in  which  the  consonants  would  not  make  a quadran- 
gular form  in  their  right  order,  they  preferred  to  write  them  incorrectly 
rather  than  to  make  the  group  ugly.  Thus,  for  instance,  the  word  xaft* 


in  sight  of,  is  rarely  written 


_,  but  almost  always 


The  same 


desire  for  decorative  effect  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  when  two  inscriptions 
are  placed  as  pendants  to  each  other,  the  writing  runs  in  opposite  directions. 
As  a rule  the  characters  run  from  right  to  left,  so  that  the  heads  of  the 
hieroglyphs  look  towards  the  right  ; in  the  above  case  however  the  signs 
in  the  inscription  on  the  right  have  to  be  content  with  following  the 
reverse  direction. 

The  ornamental  character  of  the  hieroglyphs  was  in  no  way  an 
advantage  for  the  sense  ; the  scribe,  when  making  his  pretty  pictures, 
forgot  only  too  easily  that  the  individual  signs  were  not  merely  ornamental, 
but  that  they  had  a certain  phonetic  value.  The  indifference  to  faults 
which  thus  arose  was  increased  by  another  bad  peculiarity  of  Egyptian 
writing.  The  frequent  use  of  signs  for  whole  words,  which  was  allowed 
by  the  language,  rendered  the  scribe  more  and  more  indifferent  to  the 
use  of  an  insufficiency  of  phonetic  signs.  They  often  wrote,  for  instance, 

^ rjj  'TCP,  hint  nb,  instead  of  ^ Jj  ( , himet  nibet,  every  woman  ; every 

one  who  understood  the  connection,  would  read  the  words  himet  nibet 


XIV 


LEARNING 


339 


whether  the  feminine  termination  were  added  to  the  second  word  or  not. 


They  would  also  write  both  the  active  participle  <~=::>,  mrr,  as  well  as 
the  passive  \ [j[j,  viry , simply  ^ , mr ; the  reader  could  easily  see  from 


the  context  whether  loving  or  loved  was  intended  ; thus  we  see  that  the 
more  ambiguities  the  writing  admitted,  so  much  the  more  did  the  scribes 
aggravate  the  evil  by  their  feeling  for  sufficiency  merely. 

The  inconveniences  however,  which  sprang  from  the  gradual  wider 
development  of  the  language,  were  still  worse.  Even  in  the  time  of  the 
Old  Empire  the  standpoint  of  the  language  was  not  the  same  as  that 
represented  by  the  oldest  religious  texts,  and  under  the  Middle  Empire 
the  difference  had  become  very  sensible  between  the  language  actually 
spoken  and  that  of  the  sacred  writings,  which  were  still  considered  as  the 
standard  of  good  language. 

As  the  writing  consisted  merely  of  consonants,  the  old  orthography 
still  held  its  own.  Great  confusion  began  however,  when  from  the  beginning 
of  the  New  Empire  many  of  the  final  consonants  of  the  spoken  language 
were  either  dropped  or  changed,  without  the  people  being  courageous 
enough  to  forsake  the  former  orthograph}’,  which  had  become  quite 
obsolete.  From  this  time,  as  centuries  elapsed,  the  scribes  more  and 
more  lost  the  consciousness  that  the  letters  which  they  wrote  ought  to 


signify  certain  phonetic  signs. 


When  for  instance 


hint,  woman, 


and 


mm  o 

<=>o 


, prt , winter,  were  read  hiine  and  pro  in  spite  of  the  two  final  ts, 


they  concluded  that  the  t at  the  end  of  the  word  was  merely  a sign  with 
no  value,  which  might  be  added  indifferently  to  other  words.  As  there 
were  many  words  with  a final  /,  which  were  written  also  either  with  the 
determinative  of  the  house,  im,  or  with  that  of  going,  A , as  for  instance 

‘ et , house,  [J  lit , building,  pp  slant,  to  go,  prt, 


to  go  out,  the  scribes  of  the  19th  and  20th  dynasties  began  to  place 
the  t always  above  these  two  signs,  so  that  these  determinatives  of  the 

house  and  of  going  became  pp  and  ^ . In  many  words  the  confusion 
became  so  great,  and  in  individual  cases  the  contradictions  which  ensued 
were  so  manifold,  that  for  instance  they  wrote  the  words  hrere  (old  hrerct), 
the  flower,  and  sim,  the  weed,  not,  as  under  the  Old  Empire,  hrrt  and 
sni,  but,  horrible  to  say,  hururu  and  stiniu. 

In  the  above  pages  I have  always  spoken  of  hieroglyphs , but  this  term 
may  include,  not  only  the  carefully-drawn  signs  which  usually  occur  in  our 
inscriptions,  and  which  we  print,  but  also  two  other  forms  of  writing. 
Even  under  the  Old  Empire  a special  cursive  hand  had  already  been 
invented  for  daily  use,  the  so-called  hieratic,  in  which  the  various  hiero- 
glyphs were  gradually  abbreviated  more  and  more  so  as  to  be  easily  written 


340 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


w*. 

rj 

□ 

© 

l-l 

9 □ 

-<a 

pp 

ft 

n 

1 

/2 

5 

j?* 

Li 

t/U 

I ^ 

P 

/ l& 

9 n- 

t 

AM 

//  0 

a 

-I 

/Wvs  jj 
//2^ 

t* 

ft 

□ 

21 

A 

Q 

f[ 

1 1 

1 1 1 

p 

/vvv\  [i 

m 

ft 

0 

AVWV^ 

in 

Ff, 

ft 

'M%. 

Text. 

nbt.  ‘D'd-'en  . . . te  pn  : . . . 

'n  chndk  hr  hbsu’e.  D'd-’en  sechte 
pn  : 'ery’e  hstk,  nfr  mtnu'e. 

Prt  pu  ’ernf  r hrt.  D'd'en  . . te  pn  : 
. ...  x uat.  D'd-'en  sechte  pn  : nfr 

Translation. 

. . . all.  This  ....  official  said  : 

go  not  over  my  clothes.  This  marsh- 

man 

said  : I do  what  thou  dost  wish,  my 
way  is  good. 

He  went  out  upstairs.  This  .... 

official  said  : 

. ...  on  the  way.  This  marshman 
said  : good. 


HIERATIC  BOOK-WRITING  FROM  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  NEW  EMPIRE 

(Eb.  88,  13.) 


0(~,  ( Q y m< 
//  yC^77rl  A AWv\  CL_c  n - ■ c 


3 v7  I I I .-.Ml  i rt  (X^EuxMn 


r~^  !|  1 r <=.in  <=»  1 a — 


I fl-.-.  //  A 


Text. 

(The  parts  that  are  spaced  are 
written  in  red  ink. ) 

Rrt  nt  dr  ‘abr-sa.  Chpr 
‘a,  s‘ad  d'ad'af  dnhfe,  ub  | 
d,  rda  hr  mrht,  da  rf.  'er 
m cht  mrk  (inserted  after- 
wards : dr)st,  snuch  | chrk 
d'ad'af  dnhfe,  rda  hr  mrht 
‘apnnt,  u—  | bd,  rda  sur’e 
st  s 


Translation. 

Remedy  to  drive  away  all  kinds  of  bewitchment  (?)  A large  beetle,  cut  off  his  head  and  his  two 
wings,  war-  | m (him),  put  into  fat,  apply  (him)  (?).  If  then  thou  dost  wish  to  (drive)  it  away,  then 
warm  | his  head  and  his  two  wings,  put  into  snake-fat,  war-  | m (it),  let  the  man  drink  it. 


HIERATIC  BUSINESS-WRITING  OK  THE  TIME  OF  THE  TWENTIETH  DYNASTY. 


XIV 


LEARNING 


34i 


342 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


by  the  reed  pen  of  the  scribe.  We  will  take  a few  well-known  signs  as 
examples  : 


Hieroglyphs  : 


k 


4 

3 


i.  Hieratic  of  the  M.  E.  ; 2.  of  the  N.  E.  : 
I 


k 4 

a 


m 


Determi- 

native 


f 

v 


* 


As  we  see,  the  cursive  characters  have  this  disadvantage  that  they  often 
obliterate  the  characteristic  forms  of  the  signs  ; in  our  examples,  for  instance, 
the  letters  d,  t,  and  r are  so  much  alike  that  most  of  the  scribes  of  the  New 
Empire  failed  to  distinguish  the  one  from  the  other.  This  was  also  the  case 
with  many  other  signs.  Thus  mistakes  of  all  kinds  crept  in  freely,  and  the 
Egyptians  themselves  often  could  not  read  correctly  the  pieces  that  they 
were  copying. 

The  height  of  confusion  was  reached  however,  when  the  scribes  who 
were  employed  in  rapid  business-writing  began,  from  the  time  of  the  20th 
dynasty,  to  cut  short  to  a few  strokes  those  words  which  occurred  most 
frequently.  The  following  examples  will  suffice  to  show  how  much  this 
writing  differed  even  from  the  older  cursive  hand. 


Am  on 


IfyciMI 

jas/f/Q ! 

hru 

day 


These  signs  of  course  can  be  no  longer  really  read , for  no  one  could 
make  out  from  these  strokes  and  dots  which  hieroglyphs  they  originally 
represented.  We  have  to  take  a group  of  signs  as  a whole,  and  to  bear  in 
mind  that  a perpendicular  stroke  with  four  dots  is  the  sign  for  mankind,  and 
so  on.  A few  centuries  later  and  this  shortened  form  was  developed  into 
a new  independent  style  of  writing,  the  so-called  demotic.  If  we  reflect  that 
the  writing  underwent  this  complete  degeneration  at  the  same  time  as  the 
orthography  also  degenerated  in  the  manner  described  above,  we  shall  be 
able  to  imagine  the  peculiar  character  of  many  handwritings  of  later  time. 


XIV 


LEARNING 


343 


A third  circumstance  contributes  to  make  the  time  of  the  New 
Empire  unsympathetic  to  a philological  mind,  viz.  the  barbarism  of 
the  language  of  the  religious  and  official  texts.  Whilst  the  spoken 
language  of  the  time  (the  New  Egyptian)  was  commonly  used  from  the 
beginning  of  the  1 8th  dynasty  for  the  writing  of  everyday  life,  it  was 
thought  necessary  that  the  official  and  religious  texts  should  be  kept  in 
the  ancient  language.  The  Old  Egyptian  plays  the  same  part  under  the 
New  Empire  as  Latin  did  in  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages,  with  this 
difference  that  the  former  was  misused  in  far  worse  manner  than  the  latter. 
The  barbarism  which  reigns  in  many  of  these  texts  defies  all  description  ; 
it  is  so  bad  that  it  strikes  even  us,  who  know  so  little  of  the  old  language. 
This  applies  not  only  to  those  Egyptian  texts,  which  were  composed 
under  the  New  Empire,  but  also  to  the  far  more  ancient  religious  books  in 
the  handwriting  of  the  New  Empire,  which  are  often  so  bad  that  we  can 
only  conclude  that  the  scribes  did  not  at  all  understand  what  they  were 
copying.  Other  nations  have  succeeded  comparatively  well  in  the 
experiment  of  employing  and  carrying  on  an  ancient  language,  because 
they  sought  the  assistance  of  grammars  and  lexicons  ; we  are  forced  to 
conclude  on  the  other  hand  that  the  Egyptians,  who  failed  so  completely, 
studied  little  or  no  grammar.  In  fact,  no  fragment  of  a lexicon  or  of  a 
grammar  has  yet  been  found  in  any  Egyptian  papyrus.  They  did  indeed 
write  expositions  of  the  sacred  books,  but  as  far  as  we  can  see  from  the 
commentaries  that  have  come  down  to  us,  these  were  concerned  merely 
with  the  signification  of  the  matter  of  the  contents,  and  did  not  discuss 
the  meaning  of  the  words  ; it  was  indeed  impossible  to  do  so,  for  the 
words  appeared  differently  in  every  manuscript.  The  Egyptians  never 
succeeded  in  making  a final  definite  text  of  their  sacred  writings,  a text 
which  in  no  point  ought  to  be  changed.  Their  sacred  books,  which  were 
supposed  only  to  be  touched  by  the  gods  after  they  had  purified  them- 
selves, were  really,  in  spite  of  their  sacred  character,  at  the  mercy  of 
every  scribe.  The  learned  body  of  religious  men  had  more  important 
matters  to  do  than  to  protect  them,  they  had  to  explain  them  ; and  the 
manner  in  which  this  was  done  is  so  characteristic  of  the  Egyptians  that 
I will  give  the  reader  a specimen  of  the  above-mentioned  commentary. 

Amongst  the  earliest  conceptions  of  the  life  of  the  soul  after  death 
(see  the  preceding  chapter)  was  one  particularly  widespread,  according  to 
which  the  soul  left  the  body  behind  and  went  up  into  heaven.  All  impurities 
were  taken  away,  the  divine  part  alone  remained,  and  the  soul  became 
a god  like  the  other  gods  ; was  welcomed  by  the  glorified,  and  entered 
proudly  through  the  gate  of  heaven,  in  order  to  remain  in  everlasting 
glory  with  the  sun-god  Atum  and  the  stars.  The  triumphal  hymn,  as  it 
were,  which  the  soul  sang  on  entering  into  heaven,  is  contained  in  the 
very  ancient  “ Chapter  of  the  coming  forth  by  day  out  of  the  netherworld.” 
The  beginning  runs  somewhat  in  the  following  manner  : 

“ I am  the  god  Atum,  I who  was  alone. 

“ 1 am  the  god  Re‘  at  his  first  appearing. 


344 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAT. 


“ I am  the  great  god,  who  created  himself,  and  created  his  name,  lord 
of  the  gods,  to  whom  not  one  of  the  gods  is  equal  (?). 

“ I was  yesterday,  and  I know  the  morrow  ; the  place  of  combat  of 
the  gods  was  made  when  I spoke.  I know  the  name  of  that  great  god 
who  dwells  within  him. 

I am  that  great  Phoenix  who  is  in  Heliopolis,  who  there  reckons  up 
everything  that  is  and  that  exists. 

“ I am  the  god  Min  at  his  coming  forth,  whose  feathers  I place  upon 
my  head. 

“ I am  in  my  country,  I come  into  my  town.  I am  daily  together 
with  my  father  Atum. 

“ My  impurities  are  driven  out,  and  the  sin  which  was  in  me  is  trodden 
under  foot.  I washed  myself  in  those  two  great  tanks  which  are  in 
Herakleopolis,  in  which  the  sacrifices  of  mankind  are  purified  for  that 
great  god  who  dwells  there. 

“ I go  on  the  way,  where  I wash  my  head  in  the  lake  of  the  justified. 
I reach  this  land  of  the  glorified  and  enter  through  (?)  the  glorious  gate. 

“You,  who  stand  in  front,  reach  out  to  me  your  hands,  I am  so,  I am 
become  one  of  you — I am  together  daily  with  my  father  Atum.” 

So  much  for  the  old  text,  which  even  now  does  not  need  much  com- 
mentary to  enable  us  to  gather  the  general  sense.  The  deceased  stands 
at  the  gate  of  heaven,  he  feels  that  he  has  become  a god,  and  boasts  of 
his  divine  nature.  He  esteems  himself  the  equal  of  each  of  the  ancient 
gods,  of  Atum,  of  Re‘,  and  of  that  god  at  whose  word  the  gods  once 
fought.  He  has  forsaken  his  earthly  house  in  order  to  enter  the  heavenly 
one  ; he  has  cleansed  himself  from  all  impurities,  and  now  enters  the  gate 
of  heaven,  and  the  glorified  spirits  reach  out  to  him  their  hands,  and 
conduct  him  to  his  father  the  sun-god. 

The  learned  men  of  Egypt  were  however  of  a different  opinion.  The 
words  of  the  ancient  poet  in  praise  of  the  happy  fate  of  the  deceased  did 
not  touch  their  hearts,  but  only  incited  their  heads  so  much  the  more  to 
invent  difficulties,  and  for  those  who  as  they  thought  really  understood  the 
religion  there  was  not  a line  in  which  there  were  not  problems  to  solve. 
In  early  times  therefore  the  old  hymn  was  provided  with  a commentary, 
which  in  the  course  of  centuries  became  more  and  more  voluminous. 
Many  passages  that  the  learned  men  of  the  Middle  Empire  had  considered 
clear  appeared  to  those  of  the  New  Empire  to  need  explanation,  and  on 
the  other  hand  many  old  elucidations  appeared  incorrect  to  later  com- 
mentators, and  they  felt  themselves  bound  to  add  a better  explanation. 
We  can  easily  conceive,  after  the  previous  remarks,  that  they  did  not 
content  themselves  with  amending  the  commentary,  but  sometimes  en- 
deavoured to  improve  the  ancient  text  itself. 

The  commentary  to  the  “ Book  of  the  coming  forth  by  day  ” was 
certainly  considered  a masterpiece  of  deep  learning  ; to  us  of  the  modern 
world  it  will  often  appear  nonsense,  for  in  every  harmless  word  the  com- 
mentators scented  a hidden  meaning.  When  the  poet  said  : God  knows 


XIV 


LEARNING 


345 


“ that  which  is,  and  that  which  exists,”  he  naturally  meant  that  God  knew 
all  things  ; this  explanation,  however,  was  too  simple  for  the  learned  men 
of  Egypt ; “ that  which  is,  and  that  which  exists  ” is,  according  to  the  older 
commentators,  “ eternity  and  the  endless  existence,”  whilst  according  to 
the  later  ones,  we  are  led  to  understand  that  what  is  meant  is  “ day  and 
night.”  We  must  add  one  more  thought.  When  the  poem  was  composed 
the  descriptions  of  the  gods  and  of  the  life  after  death  were  as  obscure  as 
such  matters  are  in  the  lore  of  all  primitive  people.  This  obscurity  had  long 
vanished.  The  details  of  the  lives  of  the  gods  had  been  evolved,  as  well  as 
the  history  of  what  should  happen  to  the  soul  after  death,  and  in  particular 
that  doctrine  had  been  formulated  which  treated  of  the  particular  relations  of 
the  deceased  to  Osiris,  the  god  of  the  dead.  It  appeared  of  course  incom- 
prehensible to  the  learned  that  this  sacred  hymn  should  mention  nothing 
of  all  this  ; evidently  it  was  only  necessary  rightly  to  understand  it  in 
order  to  find  all  they  wanted.  Thus  in  fact  everything  that  they  sought 
in  it  was  found,  especially  when  they  helped  out  the  text  a little. 

When  at  the  beginning  of  the  old  song  the  poet  said  : “ I am  Atum, 
I who  was  alone,”  he  meant,  of  course,  that  this  god  existed  before  all  the 
other  gods  ; the  later  writers  preferred  to  say  : “ I am  Atum,  I who  was 
alone  on  the  ocean  of  heaven,”  they  thus  foisted  in  the  conception  that  with 
the  god  an  ocean,  a chaos,  already  existed.  Further  on  we  read  : “ I am 
Re‘  at  his  first  appearing.”  The  beautiful  idea  of  the  sun-god  suddenly 
enlightening  the  hitherto  dark  world  was  not  sufficient  for  the  learned 
men  of  the  New  Empire  ; they  changed  the  text  into  “ I am  Re‘  at  his 
appearing,  as  he  began  to  rule  over  what  he  had  created.”  Then  they 
added  further  the  following  gloss  ; “ Explain  it — This  Re1,  who  began  to 
rule  over  what  he  had  created,  this  is  Re‘  who  shone  as  king  before  the 
supports  of  Shu  were  created.  He  was  on  the  terrace  of  the  town  Chmunu 
when  the  children  of  the  rebels  were  given  to  him  on  the  terrace  of 
Chmunu.”  Here  they  succeeded  therefore  in  interpolating  into  the  old 
text  the  legend  that  Re‘  formerly  ruled  as  king  over  the  earth,  before 
he  withdrew  to  rest  on  the  heavenly  cow  supported  by  the  god  Shu. 
According  to  the  commentators  the  poet  was  even  supposed  to  have  in 
his  mind  a particular  event  in  this  reign  which  took  place  in  the  famous 
town  of  Chmunu,  when  he  compared  the  deceased,  who  had  become  like 
a god,  with  the  sun-god. 

The  following  portion  of  the  text  then  mentioned  a “ great  god,  who 
created  himself,  created  his  name,  the  lord  of  the  circle  of  gods,  to  whom 
not  one  amongst  the  gods  was  equal  these  remarks  are  couched  in  terms 
too  general  to  understand  which  god  was  in  the  poet’s  thoughts.  At  all 
events  however  he  was  certainly  thinking  of  one  god,  not,  as  the  com- 
mentators’insist,  of  three  different  gods.  The  learned  of  the  New  Empire 
explained  the  passage  in  the  following  manner  : 

“ I am  the  great  god,  who  created  himself. 

“ Explain  it  : The  great  god  who  created  himself  is  the  water  ; that 
is  the  heavenly  ocean,  the  father  of  the  gods. 


346 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


“ Another  says  : it  is  Re*. 

“ Who  created  his  name,  the  lord  of  the  circle  of  gods. 

“ Explain  it  : That  is  Re*  who  created  his  names  for  his  limbs,  and 
created  those  gods  who  attend  him. 

“To  whom  not  one  is  equal  amongst  the  gods. 

“ Explain  it  : That  is  Atum  in  his  sun’s  disk.  Another  says  : that  is 
Re‘,  who  rises  in  the  eastern  horizon  of  heaven.” 

From  the  variants  we  have  quoted,  we  see  that  though  some  scholars 
liked  to  interpret  the  passage  as  applying  to  the  one  god,  Re‘,  official  opinion 
was  certain  that  the  three  gods  mentioned  in  the  first  passage,  namely  Nun, 
Re‘,  and  Atum,  were  here  intended.  The  interpretation  of  the  next 
passage : “ I was  yesterday,  and  I know  the  morrow,”  was  still  more 
involved.  When  the  deceased  thus  boasted  about  himself  he  only  meant 
that  like  the  other  gods  he  was  removed  from  the  limits  of  time,  and  that 
the  past  and  the  future  were  both  alike  to  him.  Yet  the  commentators 
of  the  Middle  Empire  were  minded  to  see  here  a reference  to  one  parti- 
cular god  ; according  to  them  the  god  who  was  yesterday  and  knows  the 
morrow  was  Osiris.  This  was  no  doubt  an  error,  but  was  a more  reason- 
able supposition  than  the  view  of  later  scholars,  who  declare  that  yesterday 
is  here  a name  of  Osiris  and  the  morrozv  a name  of  Re*. 

We  see  that  however  simple  a passage  might  be,  and  however  little 
doubt  there  ought  to  have  been  concerning  its  meaning,  so  much  the  more 
trouble  did  these  expositors  take  to  evolve  something  wonderful  out  of  it. 
They  sought  a hidden  meaning  in  everything,  for  should  not  the  deepest, 
most  secret  wisdom  dwell  in  a sacred  book  ? From  the  passage  : “ I am  the 
god  Min  at  his  coming  forth,  whose  double  feathers  I placed  on  my  head,” 
every  child  would  conclude  that  reference  was  made  to  the  god  Min,  who 
was  always  represented  with  two  tall  feathers  on  his  head  ; yet  this  was 
too  commonplace  and  straightforward  for  it  to  be  the  possible  meaning  of 
the  text.  Evidently  something  quite  different  was  intended  ; by  Min  we 
must  not  understand  the  well-known  god  of  Coptos,  but  Horus.  It  was 
true  that  Horus  did  not  usually  wear  feathers  on  his  head  ; yet  for  this 
they  found  a reason.  Either  his  two  eyes  were  to  be  understood  by  the 
two  feathers,  or  they  might  have  some  reference  to  the  two  snakes,  which 
not  he  but  the  god  Atum  wore  on  his  head.  Both  these  interpretations  of 
the  feathers,  especially  the  latter,  were  rather  too  far-fetched  to  be  reason- 
able, and  therefore  a welcome  was  accorded  to  the  ingenious  discovery  of 
a scholar  of  the  time  of  the  19th  dynasty,  who  succeeded  in  proving  from 
the  mythology  that  there  was  something  like  feathers  on  the  head  of 
Horus.  His  gloss  ran  thus:  “With  regard  to  his  double  feathers,  Isis 
together  with  Nephthys  went  once  and  placed  themselves  on  his  head  in 
the  form  of  two  birds — -behold  that  then  remained  on  his  head.” 

I will  spare  the  reader  any  further  specimens  of  this  curious  learning  ; 
they  all  show  the  same  foolish  endeavour  to  insert  things  in  the  text  of 
which  the  composer  had  never  even  thought.  In  this  respect  the  Egyptian 
scholars  did  but  follow  the  same  course  as  the  mystical  writers  of  the 


XIV 


LEARNING 


347 


Middle  Ages,  who  made  out  that  both  the  Bible  and  Virgil  were  allegorical ; 
the  Rabbis  and  many  interpreters  of  the  Koran  have  done  the  same  ; 
reverence  for  ancient  literary  works,  if  carried  too  far,  always  bears  the  same 
fruit.  The  religious  teachers  of  Egypt  must  have  shared  not  only  the 
harmless  pleasure,  which  all  those  who  trace  out  similar  subtle  questions 
feel  in  their  work,  but  also  their  characteristic  annoyance  with  colleagues 
who  insist  upon  a different  solution  to  any  of  these  interesting  problems  ; 
who  knows,  for  instance,  whether  the  various  glosses  about  the  name 


RAMSES  II.  SEATED  BEFORE  THE  SACRED  TREE  ON  WHICH  THE  GODS  ARE  WRITING  HIS  NAME. 

After  L.  D.  iii.  169. 


which  the  lake  of  Natron  at  Chenensuten  ought  to  bear,  were  not  the 
subject  of  embittered  controversy  between  the  individual  heads  of  the 
various  schools?  Some  called  it  “Eternity,”  others  the  “Guide  of 
Eternity,”  others  the  “ Begetter  of  Eternity.”  This  wonderful  wisdom  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  within  the  reach  of  all  learned  men,  for  the  great 
and  wise  man  Amenhotep,  the  son  of  Hapu  (see  pp.  103,1 48,  1 49)  expressly 
relates  of  himself  that  after  he  had  attained  to  a certain  rank,  he  “ went 
in  to  the  divine  book,  and  saw  the  excellent  things  of  Thoth.”  If  this  is 
the  right  translation  of  the  passage,  it  means  that  he  understood  the  signi- 
fication of  difficult  passages,  and  that  people  sought  his  counsel  about  them.1 

1 Mar.  Karn.,  36,  27  ; this  explanation  is  due  to  Brugsch,  cp.  A.  Z.,  1876,  96  ff. 


34» 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


If  the  Egyptian  contributions  to  learning  were  of  such  little  value  on 
a subject  which  appeared  to  them  of  such  great  importance,  it  is  natural 
to  suppose  that  on  subjects  of  wider  scope  they  have  not  rendered  much 
service  to  science.  The  more  we  come  to  understand  the  monuments,  the 
more  inclined  we  are  to  join  issue  in  the  much-debated  question  as  to 
whether  the  Egyptians  possessed  a complete  written  history.  Various  kings 
have  left  us  a short  account  of  their  achievements,  and  these  may  have 
been  taken  from  official  year-books  ; 1 we  also  have  a list  of  kings  on  the 
reverse  side  of  a Turin  papyrus,'2  and  this  may  of  course  be  designated  as 
an  historical  work.  But  this  is  all  ; other  descriptions  of  historical  events 
that  have  come  down  to  us  are  more  or  less  of  a legendary  character. 
The  point  of  view  from  which  the  Egyptians  wrote  scarcely  embraced 
more  than  the  annals  of  the  kings  and  of  the  temples,  their  only  object 


being  to  hand  down  to  posterity  the  name  of  the  Pharaoh  and  his  mighty 
deeds.  The  gods  also  were  supposed  to  write  histories  of  this  kind.  In 
the  great  hall  at  Heliopolis  stood  a very  ancient  sacred  tree.  Thoth  and 
the  goddess  Sefchet,  “ the  lady  of  writing,  the  ruler  of  books,”  wrote  the 
name  of  the  monarch  on  its  leaves,  and  the  god  Atum,  as  our  picture 
shows,  followed  her  example,  and  “ wrote  the  name  on  the  noble  tree  with 
the  writing  of  his  own  fingers.”  3 

In  the  clear  Egyptian  sky  the  stars  are  wonderfully  bright,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Nile  valley  must  have  observed  them  in  very  early 
ages.  Though  they  did  not,  like  the  dwellers  in  Mesopotamia,  regard 
them  as  divinities,  yet  they  looked  upon  them  as  the  abode  of  pious 
souls  ; eg.  the  dog-star,  the  so-called  Sothis,  was  regarded  as  the  soul  of 
Isis,  Orion  as  that  of  Horus.  Other  stars  were  the  genii  with  whom  the 


2 That  it  is  only  on  the  reverse  side — an  important  fact  when  we  come  to  criticise  it — has  been 


STAR-CHART  OF  THE  NORTH  POLE  OF  THE  SKY. 
(From  the  Tomb  of  Sety  I.  After  L.  D. , iii.  137). 


1 These  must  be  the 


am.,  52,  20. 


observed  by  Wilcken. 


3 L.  D. , iii.  37a,  169. 


XIV 


LEARNING 


349 


sun  was  connected  in  his  course  ; they  thus  especially  regarded  the  thirty- 
six  constellations  situated  on  the  horizon,  the  so-called  decan  stars. 

But  besides  this  semi-poetical  view  of  the  stars,  the  Egyptians  of  the 
New  Empire,  if  not  those  of  earlier  date,  possessed  the  elements  of  real 
astronomy.  On  the  one  hand  they  tried  to  find  their  way  in  the  vastness 
of  the  heavens  by  making  charts  of  the  constellations  according  to  their 
fancy,  charts  which  of  course  could  only  represent  a small  portion  of  the 
sky.  On  the  other  hand  they  went  further,  they  made  tables  in  which 
the  position  of  the  stars  was  indicated.  The  plan  of  these  was  so  curious 
that  we  must  describe  them  in  more  detail.  They  imagined  that  under 
the  centre  of  the  sky  a human  figure  sat  upright,  and  that  the  top  of 
his  head  was  placed  below  the  zenith.  The  stars  which  were  approaching 


the  zenith  were  situate  over  a portion  of  this  figure,  and  their  position  was 
indicated  in  the  lists  of  stars.  There  are  several  of  these  kinds  of  lists  in 
the  tombs  of  the  kings  of  the  20th  dynasty,1  they  give  the  position  of 
the  stars  during  the  twelve  hours  of  the  night,  at  intervals  of  fifteen  days. 
Unfortunately,  as  they  only  served  as  pieces  of  decorative  work  for  the 
tomb,  they  were  very  carelessly  done,  and  it  is  therefore  very  difficult  to 
make  them  out. 

On  the  1 6th  of  Paophi,  for  instance,  they  thus  indicated  the  position 
of  the  stars  during  : 


1st  hour 

the  leg  of  the  giant 

over  the  heart. 

2nd 

» 

the  star  Petef 

over  the  heart. 

3rd 

>> 

the  star  ‘Ary 

over  the  left  eye. 

4th 

>> 

the  claw  of  the  goose 

over  the  left  eye. 

5th 

the  hinderpart 

over  the  heart. 

6th 

„ 

the  star  of  thousands 

over  the  left  eye. 

7 th 

» 

the  star  S‘ar 

over  the  left  eye. 

8th 

>> 

the  fingerpoint  of  the 

constellation  S‘ah  (Orion) 

over  the  left  eye. 

1 L.  D. , iii.  227-228,  bis. 


35o 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAI\ 


The  9th  hour  the  star  of  S‘ah  (Orion)  over  the  left  elbow. 

„ 1 Oth  „ the  star  that  follows  Sothis  over  the  left  elbow. 

,,  1 ith  „ the  fingerpoint  of  both  stars  over  the  right  elbow. 

„ 1 2 th  „ the  stars  of  the  water  over  the  heart.” 

After  fifteen  days,  on  the  1st  of  Athyr,  the  stars  have  changed  their 
positions  as  follows  : 


“Hour  1.  Star  Petef 

over  the  heart. 

„ 2.  Star  ‘Ary 

over  the  left  eye. 

„ 3.  Head  of  the  goose 

over  the  right  eye. 

„ 4.  Hinderpart  of  the  goose 

over  the  heart. 

„ 5.  Star  of  the  thousands 

over  the  heart. 

„ 6.  Star  of  the  S‘ar 

over  the  heart. 

„ 7.  Point  of  finger  of  the  S‘ah 

over  the  heart. 

„ 8.  Star  of  the  S‘ah 

over  the  right  eye. 

„ 9.  Star  that  follows  Sothis 

over  the  right  eye. 

„ 10.  Fingerpoint  of  both  stars 

over  the  heart. 

„ 11.  Stars  of  the  water 

over  the  heart. 

„ 1 2.  Head  of  the  lion 

over  the  heart.” 

again  after  fifteen  days  on  the  1 6th  of  Athyr  they  stand  th 

“Hour  1.  Star  ‘Ary 

over  the  left  eye. 

„ 2.  Head  of  the  goose 

over  the  heart. 

„ 3.  Hinderpart  of  the  goose 

over  the  heart. 

„ 4.  Star  of  the  thousands 

over  the  heart. 

„ 5.  Star  of  the  S‘ar 

over  the  left  eye. 

„ 6.  Star  of  the  S‘ah 

over  the  heart. 

„ 7.  Star  of  the  S‘ah 

over  the  left  eye. 

„ 8.  Star  that  follows  Sothis 

over  the  left  eye. 

„ 9.  Fingerpoint  of  both  stars 

over  the  heart. 

:,  10.  Stars  of  the  water 

over  the  heart. 

„ 11.  Head  of  the  lion 

over  the  heart. 

„ 1 2.  Tail  of  the  lion 

over  the  heart. 

These  lists  were  probably  used  for  practical  purposes  ; for  though  it 
has  not  been  proved  that  astrology,  i.e.  the  use  of  the  stars  in  a super- 
stitious way,  was  practised  in  Egypt,  yet  the  stars  were  of  great  service  in 
questions  of  the  calendar,1  in  the  elaboration  of  which  the  Egyptians  were 
very  successful.  The  old  problem  of  how  to  divide  time  in  accordance 
with  the  course  of  the  sun  into  periods  of  about  365^  days,  and  these 
again  in  accordance  with  the  course  of  the  moon  into  periods  of  about 
29!  days,  was  solved  by  the  Egyptians  in  such  a satisfactory  manner 
that  their  solution  forms  even  now  the  foundation  of  our  own  calendar. 
In  the  division  of  time  into  months  they  ignored  the  moon  and  made  it 
an  arbitrary  division  of  time  containing  30  days;  1 2 of  these  months, 
that  is  360  days,  formed  a year  ; and  as  the  real  year  contained  365^- 
1 Thus  the  beginning  of  the  inundation  was  originally  dated  from  the  early  rising  of  Sothis. 


XIV 


LEARNING 


35i 


days,  the  deficit  was  made  good  by  five  intercalary  days,  which,  as  the 
“ five  surplus  days  of  the  year,”  were  added  on  to  the  end  of  the  year. 
The  twelve  months  were  then  again  divided  into  three  seasons  consisting 
each  of  120  days,  which  were  named  after  the  three  chief  periods  of 
Egyptian  agriculture,  the  Inundation , the  Growing  of  the  seed,  and  the 
Harvest.  The  beginning  of  the  time  of  the  inundation  was  about  the 
20th  July,  which  was  therefore  rightly  considered  to  be  the  Egyptian 
New  Year’s  Day. 

This  calendar  however,  which  existed  in  this  form  even  under  the 
Old  Empire,  had  one  disadvantage, — its  year  of  365  days  was  still  a ^ of 
a day  too  short,  and  thus  every  fourth  year  was  a day  behind  the  true 
year.  If  in  the  year  2782  B.C.  New  Year’s  Day  fell  at  the  beginning  of 
the  inundation,  in  the  year  2542  B.C.,  it  would  fall  two  months  before  the 
inundation,  and  in  the  year  2302  B.C.  the  difference  would  have  become 
so  great  that  the  period  which  they  called  the  inundation  would  corre- 
spond with  the  four  months  in  which  they  gathered  the  harvest.  It  would 
require  the  long  period  of  1 460  years  to  equalise  these  errors,  and  it  was 
not  till  the  year  1322  B.C.  that  New  Year’s  Day  would  again  coincide 
with  the  20th  of  July,  the  official  beginning  of  the  inundation.  They  had 
thus  a changing  year,  the  periods  and  months  of  which  did  not  as  a rule 
agree  with  the  periods  of  nature,  but  which,  owing  to  its  practical  advan- 
tages, was  generally  accepted.  The  real  natural  year  was  quite  thrown 
into  the  background,  and  played  the  same  part  with  regard  to  the 
changing  year  as  the  actual  month  from  new  moon  to  full  moon  does  with 
regard  to  our  conventional  month.  The  peasants  and  the  priests,  on 
account  of  agriculture  and  of  certain  festivals,  alone  cared  for  the  Year 
of  Nature  ; they  maintained  the  old  tradition  that  the  day  to  be  regarded 
as  the  beginning  of  the  year,  and  of  the  inundation,  was  that  on  which 
Sothis  first  reappeared  in  the  morning  sky.1 

Though  the  Egyptians  thus  laid  the  foundations  of  our  calendar,  yet 
on  the  other  hand  they  were  not  at  all  exempt  from  the  superstitious 
beliefs  connected  with  the  calendar  regarding  the  so-called  lucky  or 
unlucky  days.  The  idea,  so  widespread  throughout  the  ages  of  antiquity, 
prevails  even  in  modern  times  that  it  is  lucky  on  some  days,  but  unlucky 
on  others,  to  undertake  any  affair.  This  idea  appears,  as  far  as  we  can  judge 
from  a book  of  the  time  of  the  New  Empire,  to  have  been  very  prevalent 
in  Egypt.  Here  as  everywhere  religious  reasons  were  brought  forward  in 
favour  of  this  superstition.  One  day  was  lucky  or  unlucky  according 
as  a good  or  bad  mythological  incident  took  place  on  that  day.2  For 
instance,  the  1st  of  Mechir,  on  which- day  the  sky  was  raised,  and  the 
27th  of  Athyr,  when  Horus  and  Set  concluded  peace  together  and  divided 
the  world  between  them,  were  lucky  days;  on  the  other  hand  the  14th 

1 Therefore  this  natural  year  of  the  Egyptians  was  called  the  Sothic  year,  and  the  periods  of  1460 
years,  which  it  took  to  coincide  with  the  variable  year,  was  called  a Sothic  period. 

" The  following  is  after  Sail.,  4.  The  text  of  this  document,  which  is  most  important  for  the 
mythology,  has  unfortunately  suffered  much  injury,  which  prevents  the  comprehension  of  many 
passages. 


352 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


of  Tybi,  on  which  Isis  and  Nephthys  mourned  for  Osiris,  was  an  unlucky 
day.  With  the  unlucky  days,  which  fortunately  were  less  in  number  than 
the  lucky  days,  they  distinguished  different  degrees  of  ill-luck.  Some 
were  very  unlucky,  others  only  threatened  ill-luck,  and  many  like  the 
17th  and  the  27th  of  Choiakh  were  partly  good  and  partly  bad  according 
to  the  time  of  day.  Lucky  days  might  as  a rule  be  disregarded.  At 
most  it  might  be  as  well  to  visit  some  specially  renowned  temple,  or  to 
“ celebrate  a joyful  day  at  home,”  but  no  particular  precautions  were  really 
necessary  ; and  above  all  it  was  said  : “ what  thou  also  seest  on  the  day 
is  lucky.”  It  was  quite  otherwise  with  the  unlucky  and  dangerous  days, 
which  imposed  so  many  and  such  great  limitations  on  people,  that  those 
who  wished  to  be  prudent  were  always  obliged  to  bear  them  in  mind 
when  determining  on  any  course  of  action.  Certain  conditions  were  easy 
to  carry  out.  Music  and  singing  were  to  be  avoided  on  the  14th  Tybi, 
the  day  of  the  mourning  for  Osiris,  and  no  one  was  allowed  to  wash  on 
the  1 6th  Tybi;  whilst  the  name  of  Set  might  not  be  pronounced  on  the 
24th  of  Pharmuthi.  Fish  was  forbidden  on  certain  days  ; and  what  was 
still  more  difficult  in  a country  so  rich  in  mice,  on  the  12th  Tybi  no 
mouse  might  be  seen.  The  most  tiresome  prohibitions  however  were 
those  which  occurred  not  infrequently,  namely,  those  concerning  work 
and  going  out  : for  instance,  four  times  in  Paophi  the  people  had  to  “ do 
nothing  at  all,”  and  five  times  to  sit  the  whole  day  or  half  the  day  in 
the  house  ; and  the  same  rule  had  to  be  observed  each  month.  Even 
the  most  cautious  could  not  avoid  all  the  ill-luck  that  unlucky  days  could 
bring,  so  that  the  knowledge  of  them  was  ever  an  anxiety  to  them.  It 
was  impossible  to  rejoice  if  a child  were  born  on  the  23rd  of  Thoth  ; 
the  parents  knew  it  could  not  live.  Those  born  on  the  20th  of  Choiakh 
would  become  blind,  and  those  born  on  the  3rd  of  Choiakh,  deaf. 

The  book  from  which  I have  taken  these  examples  does  not  belong 
to  the  same  class  of  literature  as  the  superstitious  books  of  other  times 
and  nations.  No  nation  is  entirely  without  these  intellectual  productions, 
and  by  some  people  they  are  highly  esteemed  ; they  form  however  at 
most  a valuable  addition  to  literature,  which  wise  men  may  study  at  will, 
but  are  not  quite  the  sort  of  educational  material  most  suitable  for  young 
people.  It  was  otherwise  in  Egypt,  and  the  strange  manual  relating  to 
the  selection  of  days  has  really  come  down  to  us  in  a school  copy-book. 
Superstition  with  this  people  was  not  an  interesting  by-product  of  their 
civilisation  ; it  was,  as  in  Babylonia,  one  of  the  most  mighty  influences  of 
their  intellectual  life.  The  belief  that  there  were  words  and  actions  by 
which  they  could  produce  an  effect  on  the  powers  of  nature,  upon  every 
living  being,  upon  animals,  and  even  upon  gods,  was  indissolubly  connected 
with  all  the  actions  of  the  Egyptians.  Above  all  the  whole  system  of 
the  funeral  ceremonies  and  worship  was  ruled  by  superstition  ; the  wooden 
figures  who  were  supposed  to  do  the  work  or  prepare  the  food  for  the 
deceased  ; the  formula  of  the  offerings,  the  repetition  of  which  would,  they 
thought,  create  food  for  him, — these  and  similar  customs  are  neither  more 


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353 


nor  less  than  magical.  Neither  men  nor  gods  could  get  on  without  magic  ; 
even  the  latter  wore  amulets  as  a protection,  and  used  magical  formulae 
to  constrain  each  other.  Isis  was  above  all  other  divinities  the  mistress 
of  magic,  and  famous  as  “ great  in  magic  words.” 

The  magical  formulae  used  by  the  Egyptians  were  founded  chiefly  on 
the  following  idea.  The  magician  would  recollect  some  incident  in  the 
history  of  the  gods,  which  had  brought  good  luck  to  one  of  the  heavenly 
beings.  In  order  to  reproduce  the  same  good  luck  he  would  imagine  that 
he  himself  represented  that  god,  and  he  would  therefore  repeat  the  words 
the  god  had  spoken  in  that  incident  ; words  which  had  formerly  been  so 
effective  would,  he  felt  sure,  be  again  of  good  service.  For  instance,  if  he 
desired  to  cool  or  heal  a burn,  after  using  as  a remedy  “ the  milk  of  a 
woman  who  had  borne  a son,”  he  would  say  over  it  the  following  formula  : 
“ My  son  Horus,  it  burns  on  the  mountain,  no  water  is  there,  I am  not 
there,  fetch  water  from  the  bank  of  the  river  to  put  out  the  fire.”  1 These 
words  were  evidently  spoken  by  Isis  in  a divine  legend.  A fire 2 had 
broken  out,  and  the  goddess  called  anxiously  to  her  son  Horus  to  fetch 
water.  As  this  cry  for  help  had  formerly  produced  the  means  whereby  the 
fire  on  the  mountain  was  extinguished,  it  was  to  be  hoped  that  the  same 
words  in  the  mouth  of  the  magician  would  stop  the  burning  of  the  wound. 
It  was  the  same  with  the  following  exorcism,  which  was  spoken  over  the 
smell-seeds  and  over  the  inevitable  “ milk  of  a woman  who  has  borne  a 
son,”  in  order  to  make  these  medicaments  effective  against  a cold.  “ De- 
part cold,  son  of  a cold,  thou  who  breakest  the  bones,  destroyest  the 
skull,  partest  company  with  fat,  makest  ill  the  seven  openings  in  the  head  ! 
The  servants  of  Re  beseech  Thoth — ‘ Behold  I bring  thy  recipe  to  thee, 
thy  remedy  to  thee  : the  milk  of  a woman  who  has  borne  a son  and  the 
smell-seeds.  Let  that  drive  thee  away,  let  that  heal  thee  ; let  that  heal 
thee,  let  that  drive  thee  away.  Go  out  on  the  floor,  stink,  stink!  stink, 
stink  ! ’ ” 3 This  catarrh  incantation  is  taken  from  a myth  concerning  the 
old  age  and  the  illnesses  of  the  sun-god.  Re‘  is  suffering  from  a cold, 
which  confuses  his  head  ; his  attendants  beseech  the  god  of  learning  for 
a remedy  ; the  god  brings  it  immediately  and  announces  to  the  illness 
that  it  must  yield  to  it. 

In  these  magical  formulae  the  magician  repeated  the  words  of  the  god, 
and  through  them  he  exercised  the  magic  power  of  the  god  ; in  other 
cases  it  would  suffice  for  him  to  designate  himself  as  that  god,  whose  power 
he  wished  to  possess.  For  instance,  whoever  recited  the  following  words 
over  the  water  : 

“ Thou  art  not  above  me — I am  Anion. 

I am  Anhor,  the  beautiful  slayer. 

I am  the  prince,  the  lord  of  the  sword. 

Raise  not  thyself — I am  Mont,  etc.  ” 4 

caused  the  crocodiles  to  be  as  terrified  by  this  formula  as  if  those  gods 

1 Eb.,  69,  6,  similarly  69,  3.  2 Perhaps  that  mentioned  in  A.  Z.,  1879,  3. 

3 Eb.,  90,  16.  4 Pap.  mag.  Harris,  8,  5. 

2 A 


354 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


themselves  had  passed  by  that  way.  It  was  of  course  especially  effective 
if  instead  of  using  the  usual  name  of  the  god,  the  magician  could  name 
his  real  name , that  special  name  possessed  by  each  god  and  each  genius 
in  which  his  power  resided.  He  who  knew  this  name,  possessed  the  power 
of  him  who  bore  it,  and  as  we  saw  in  the  12th  chapter  (p.  265),  from  the 
time  that  Isis  the  great  enchantress  constrained  the  sun-god  to  reveal  to 
her  his  secret  name,  she  became  as  powerful  as  he  was  himself.  There- 
fore the  following  incantation,  which  refers  to  this  name,  would  work  even 
better  against  the  crocodiles  than  that  quoted  above  : 

“ I am  the  chosen  one  of  millions,  who  proceeds  from  the  kingdom  of  light, 
Whose  name  no  one  knows. 

If  his  name  be  spoken  over  the  stream 
It  is  obliterated. 

If  his  name  be  spoken  over  the  land 
It  causes  fire  to  arise. 

I am  Shu,  the  image  of  Re‘, 

Who  sits  in  his  eye. 

If  any  one  who  is  in  the  water”  (i.e.  a crocodile)  “open  his  mouth, 

If  he  strike  (?)  his  arms, 

Then  will  I cause  the  earth  to  fall  into  the  stream 
And  the  South  to  become  the  North 
And  the  earth  to  turn  round.”  1 

As  we  see,  the  magician  guards  himself  from  actually  pronouncing  the 
real  name  of  Shu  ; he  only  threatens  to  name  it,  and  therewith  to  unhinge 
the  world.  Incidentally  indeed  he  even  threatens  the  god  himself  with 
the  mention  of  his  secret  name,  to  whom  the  revelation  would  be  fatal. 
Further,  he  who  in  terror  of  the  monsters  of  the  water  should  repeat 
the  following  incantation  four  times  : 

“ Come  to  me,  come  to  me,  thou  image  of  the  eternity  of  eternities  ! 

Thou  Chnum,  son  of  the  One  ! 

Conceived  yesterday,  born  to-day, 

Whose  name  I know,” 

the  divine  being  whom  he  called,  who  “ has  seventy-seven  eyes  and  seventy- 
seven  ears,”  2 would  certainly  come  to  his  help. 

It  is  no  real  loss  that  the  actual  mention  of  the  name  is  rarely 
made,  and  that  therefore  we  do  not  know  how  the  real  names  of  Re‘  or 
of  Anion  were  pronounced,  for  what  we  know  of  these  names  shows  us 
sufficiently  how  childish  they  were.  It  is  impossible  to  discover  any  sense 
in  the  wonderful  words  they  used,  e.g.  in  the  secret  name  which  the  Pyramid 
texts  disclose  to  us  in  a snake-incantation,  “ He’te’tebe’te’shes,  son  of 
He’fget,” 3 or  in  the  name  with  which  the  genius  of  a wild  animal  is 
addressed  under  the  New  Empire,  “ Shat’ebut’e,  ‘Art’ebuhaya,”  4 or  finally 
in  the  appellation  of  a god,  which  was  ascribed  later  to  our  oft-mentioned 
Amenhotep,  son  of  Hapu  ; “ O Shauagat’eennagat’e,  son  of  the  ’Erukat’e  ! 
Kauarushagat’e  ! ” 5 They  are  nothing  but  senseless  noises  making  a 

1 Pap.  mag.  Harr.,  7,  1.  2 Pap.  mag.  Harr.,  7,  4.  3 Un’es,  325. 

4 Pap.  mag.  Harr.,  B.  8.  They  have  the  determinative  Yj7,  and  are  therefore  names  of  this 
animal.  5 Maspero,  Memoire  sur  quelques  papyrus  du  Louvre,  p.  58. 


XIV 


LEARNING 


355 


strange  sound.  Magical  effect  was  always  ascribed  to  similar  curious  words  : 
P‘ap‘aruka  p‘ap‘araka,  p‘ap‘arura  1 is  the  beginning  of  an  incantation,  and 
another  runs  thus  : 

“ ’Edera  ’edesana, 

’Ederagaha  ’edesana, 

Together : matmu  ’edesana, 

Together  : ’emuy  ’edesana, 

Together  : ducha’eryna  ’edesana, 

Together  : degaksana  ’edesana, 

Together  : t'akarut’a  ’edesana 
Given  : uaraha’ea, 

Qena, 

Hamu.”  2 

Magical  formulae  of  this  kind  are  in  use  amongst  all  nations,  and  the 
explanation  which  has  been  given  of  this  nonsense  may  apply  to  them 
all  : these  words  are  all  said  to  belong  to  some  foreign,  or  some  unknown 
tongue.  Arab  magicians  call  their  magic  words  “ Syrian,”  Germans 
explain  theirs  as“  Hebrew,”  the  Egyptians  declared  that  “ Sant’ekapupeuay 
’eyment’erakakara  ” belonged  to  the  Phoenician  language.3  I am  afraid  it 
would  be  lost  trouble  if  we  were  to  try  to  identify  these  words  out  of  the 
Phoenician.  A few  words  of  that  language  may  really  have  found  their 
way  into  the  magical  literature  of  Egypt,  as  many  of  the  Hebrew  names 
of  angels  have  into  ours,  but  most  of  these  Phoenician  words  were  certainly 
pure  inventions. 

The  magic  formulae  were  naturally  most  effective  when  they  were  said 
aloud,  but  they  were  of  use  also  even  when  they  were  written  ; this  accounts 
for  the  zeal  with  which  the  magic  formulae  for  the  deceased  were  written 
everywhere  in  the  tomb,  and  on  the  tomb  furniture, — the  greater  the 
number  of  times  they  were  written,  the  more  certainly  they  took  effect. 

There  was  another  way  of  perpetuating  the  power  of  the  magic 
formulae  ; they  were  recited  over  objects  of  a certain  kind,  which  were 
thus  invested  with  a lasting  magical  virtue.  Thus  the  above  crocodile 
incantations  might  be  recited  over  an  egg  made  of  clay  ; if  then  the  pilot 
of  the  boat  carried  this  egg  in  his  hand,  all  the  terrible  animals  that  had 
emerged  from  the  stream  would  again  sink  immediately  into  the  water.4 
In  the  same  way  it  was  possible  to  endow  figures  of  paper  or  of  wax  with 
magical  efficacy;  if  such  were  brought  secretly  into  the  house  of  an  enemy, 
they  would  spread  sickness  and  weakness  there.5  We  have  already  related 
in  the  preceding  chapter  how  they  made  use  of  other  small  figures  as  ser- 
vants of  the  deceased ; these,  with  the  stone  geese  and  the  wooden  models 
of  kitchens,  and  all  similar  adjuncts  of  the  tombs,  had  all  been  filled  with 
magical  power  by  the  recitation  of  formulae.  We  know  this  was  also  certainly 
the  case  with  the  numberless  little  ornaments  in  stone  and  china  which 

1 I’ap.  mag.  Harr.,  7,  12.  2 Ditto,  C.  1. 

3 London  medical  papyrus  from  a duplicate  of  GolenischefF’s.  A Semitic  tongue  is  probably 
intended,  the  reading  Phoenician  is  very  hypothetical.  Amongst  these  nonsensical  words  the  name 
of  Ba'al  occurs:  Pap.  mag.  Harr.,  C.  4. 

4 Pap.  mag.  Harr.,  6,  12.  “ Clay”  is  only  hypothetical.  5 Lee,  1,  4 ; Rollin,  1. 


356 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


have  been  found  with  the  mummies,  and  with  which  our  museums  are 

filled.  For  instance,  over  the  little  figure  of  the  pillar  Ded  jj'  , representing 

the  sacred  backbone  of  Osiris,  the  following  words  had  to  be  spoken  : 
“ Thy  back  belongs  to  thee,  thou  with  motionless  heart  : thy  vertebrae 
belong  to  thee,  thou  with  motionless  heart.  Thou  dost  lie  upon  thy  side, 
I put  water  underneath  thee.  Behold,  I bring  thee  the  Ded  and  thou  dost 
rejoice  therein.”  Through  this  formula  the  Ded  ensures  to  the  deceased, 
round  whose  neck  it  is  hung,  a safe  entrance  into  the  gate  of  the  nether 
world.1  Over  a similar  amulet  however  made  of  carnelian,  these  words 
were  spoken  : “ O blood  of  Isis,  O splendour  of  Isis,  O magic  power  of 
Isis,  O amulet  for  the  protection  of  this  great  man,  beware  of  doing  harm 
to  him.”  If  the  deceased  wear  this  amulet,  Isis  will  protect  him,  and  Horus 
will  rejoice  when  he  sees  it.2 

Amulets  such  as  these  were  worn  as  a protection  not  only  by  the 
dead,  but  by  the  living,  and  even  the  gods  and  the  sacred  animals  could 
not  manage  without  safeguards  of  this  kind.  Under  the  Old  Empire  one 
amulet  appears  to  have  consisted  merely  of  two  stones  or  pieces  of  wood 
stuck  through  each  other, 3 later  it  took  the  form  of  a heart, 4 or  it 
consisted  of  a four-cornered  shield  with  mystic  figures,  decorated  at  the 
top  with  a little  hollow.  5 

This  dominating  belief  in  magic  certainly  hindered  the  intellectual 
progress  of  the  nation,  for  who  would  take  the  trouble  to  follow  the  long 
wearisome  ways  of  nature  when  they  thought  the  same  result  might  be 
obtained  in  a superhuman  and  much  shorter  manner  ? The  Egyptians 
believed  this  especially  with  regard  to  medicine.  They  followed  this 
science  with  great  zeal,  and  from  the  practical  side  at  any  rate  they  were 
able  to  boast  of  good  results,  but  their  doctors  were  never  able  to  shake 
themselves  free  from  the  influence  of  magic.  For  besides  the  specially 
wonderful  incantations,  which  were  to  be  spoken  over  various  remedies  in 
order  to  endow  them  with  the  right  power,  the  following  formula  had  to 
be  recited  at  the  preparation  of  all  medicaments.  “ That  Isis  might 
make  free,  make  free.  That  Isis  might  make  Horus  free  from  all  evil 
that  his  brother  Set  had  done  to  him  when  he  slew  his  father  Osiris.  O 
Isis,  great  enchantress,  free  me,  release  me  from  all  evil  red  things,  from 
the  fever  of  the  god  and  the  fever  of  the  goddess,  from  death,  and  death 
from  pain,  and  the  pain  which  comes  over  me  ; as  thou  hast  freed,  as  thou 
hast  released  thy  son  Horus,  whilst  I enter  into  the  fire  and  go  forth  from 
the  water,”  etc.  6 Again,  when  the  invalid  took  his  medicine,  an  incanta- 
tion had  to  be  said  which  began  thus  : “ Come  remedy,  copie  drive  it  out 
of  my  heart,  out  of  these  my  limbs,  strong  in  magic  power  with  the 
remedy.  ” 7 There  must  however  have  been  a few  rationalists  amongst 
the  Egyptian  doctors,  for  the  number  of  magic  formulae  varies  much  in 

1 Totb.  Chap.  155.  2 Totb.  Chap.  156. 

3 Diim.  Res.,  8 ; L.  D. , ii.  48,  73  ; Perrot,  91.  Variation,  L.  D. , ii.  3,  5. 

4 E.g.  see  p.  222.  5 E.g.  see  p.  208,  that  in  the  hand  of  the  central  figure. 

6 Eb.,  1,  12  ff.  7 Eb.,  2,  1 ff. 


XIV 


LEARNING 


357 


the  different  medical  books.  The  book  that  we  have  specially  taken  as  a 
foundation  for  this  account  of  Egyptian  medicine — the  great  papyrus  of 
the  1 8th  dynasty  edited  by  Ebers — contains,  for  instance,  far  fewer 
exorcisms  than  some  later  writings:  with  similar  contents,  probably  because 
the  doctor  who  compiled  this  book  of  recipes  from  older  sources  had  very 
little  liking  for  magic. 

The  science  of  medicine  even  under  the  Old  Empire  was  already  in 

the  hands  of  special  physicians  called  ^ snu  (Coptic  sajn).  We 

still  know  the  names  of  some  of  the  royal  body-physicians  of  this  time  ; 
Sechmetna’e'dnch,  the  “ chief  physician  of  the  Pharaoh,”  served  the  King 
Sehure1,1  while  of  somewhat  earlier  date  perhaps,2  are  Ra‘na’e‘onch  the 
“ physician  of  the  Pharaoh,”  and  Nesmenau  his  chief,  the  “ superintendent 
of  the  physicians  of  the  Pharaoh.”  The  priests  also  of  the  lioness-headed 
goddess  Sechmet  seem  to  have  been  famed  for  their  medical  wisdom,3 
whilst  the  son  of  this  goddess,  the  demigod  Imhotep,  was  in  later  times 
considered  to  be  the  creator  of  medical  knowledge.  These  ancient  doctors 
laid  the  foundation  of  all  later  medicine  ;4  even  the  doctors  of  the  New 
Empire  do  not  seem  to  have  improved  upon  the  older  conceptions  about 
the  construction  of  the  human  body.  We  may  be  surprised  at  this,  but 
their  anatomical  knowledge  was  very  little, — less  than  we  should  expect 
with  a people  to  whom  it  was  an  everyday  matter  to  open  dead  bodies. 5 

Besides  the  structure  of  the  bones  and  of  the  large  viscera  such  as  the 
heart,  stomach,  spleen,  etc.,  the  ancient  Egyptians  knew  barely  anything 
of  the  human  body,  and  their  teaching  concerning  the  vessels  is  mostly 
characterised  by  pure  invention  ; this  teaching  however  was  considered  by 
them  as  specially  important,  it  was  the  “ secret  of  the  doctor.” 6 These 
vessels  correspond  essentially  with  the  great  veins  or  indeed  preferably  with 
the  arteries,  but  as  they  thought  that  they  carried  water,  air,  excretory  fluids, 
etc.,'  we  must  understand  their  words  in  a very  broad  sense,  unless  we 
prefer  to  consider  the  statements  about  their  activity  as  pure  fancy.  The 
Egyptians  realised  at  any  rate  that  the  vessels  took  their  course  from  the 
heart  to  the  various  members  of  the  body.  The  heart  is  the  centre,  “ its 
vessels  lead  to  all  the  members  ; whether  the  doctor  . . . lays  his  finger 
on  the  forehead,  on  the  back  of  the  head,  on  the  hands,  on  the  place  of  the 
stomach  (?),  on  the  arms,  or  on  the  feet,  everywhere  he  meets  with  the  heart 

1 Mar.  Mast.,  203  f. 

- L.  D.,  ii.  91  a,  92,  d,  e.  They  may  be  contemporaries,  for  the  former  makes  offerings  in  the 
tomb  of  the  latter. 

3 Eb.,  99,  2.  Cp.  also  the  name  there  quoted  “ Sechmet  is  my  life.” 

4 Of  course  I do  not  maintain  that  we  can  believe  the  statements  concerning  the  composition  or 
the  discovery  of  medical  writings  under  certain  kings  of  the  Old  Empire.  They  show  at  the  same 
time  that  the  nucleus  of  this  literature  is  of  a great  age.  The  language  of  these  books  teaches  us 
the  same  lesson. 

3\  e must  indeed  not  overlook  the  fact  that  in  the  art  of  mummifying,  the  abdomen  alone  was 
opened. 

H Eb.,  99,  1. 

' Water  : Eb.,  99,  9,  19,  100,  10.  Mucus  : 99,  6.  Air  : 100,  3,  10.  Other  fluids  : 100,  7,  103,  18. 
Excrement  : 100,  14.  The  vessels  of  the  face  twitch  : An.,  4,  13,  6. 


353 


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CHAr. 


(i.e.  the  pulse),  because  its  vessels  lead  to  all  the  members.”  The  heart  was 
therefore  called  also  the  “ beginning  of  all  the  members.”  1 The  Egyptians 
knew  little,  however,  about  the  position  of  the  various  vessels.  An  ancient 
manual  on  this  subject  declares  that  there  were  twelve  of  them,  which  went 
in  pairs  to  the  breast,  to  the  legs,  to  the  forehead,  and  to  other  exterior  parts 
of  the  body.2  In  another  manual  however,  more  than  forty  of  them  are 
mentioned,  some  of  which  lead  to  the  viscera  ; this  manual  evidently 
represents  an  amended  edition  of  the  old  teaching  ; it  remains  however 
very  doubtful  how  much  is  based  upon  observation.3  This  theory  of  the 
vessels  is  of  special  importance  in  Egyptian  medicine,  for  many  neuralgic 
or  rheumatic  affections  were  dependent,  according  to  Egyptian  ideas,  on  the 
vessels.  They  were  stopped  up,  they  were  heated,  they  grew  stiff,  they 
itched,  they  had  to  be  strengthened  or  pacified,  they  would  not  absorb  the 
medicine — troubles  which  the  doctor  had  to  counteract  by  poultices  and 
ointments.4 

As  a rule  the  Egyptian  doctors  thought  they  could  see,  without  further 
examination,  what  was  the  matter  with  their  patients.  Many,  however, 
were  conscious  that  an  exact  knowledge  of  any  disease  is  the  foundation 
of  a cure,  and  therefore  in  their  writings,5  directed  such  straightforward 
diagnoses  as  for  instance  the  following  : “ When  thou  findest  a man  who 
has  a swelling  in  his  neck,  and  who  suffers  in  both  his  shoulder-blades, 
as  well  as  in  his  head,  and  the  backbone  of  his  neck  is  stiff,  and  his  neck 
is  stiff,  so  that  he  is  not  able  to  look  down  upon  his  belly  . . . then  say  : 
‘He  has  a swelling  in  his  neck;  direct  him  to  rub  in  the  ointment  of 
stibium,  so  that  he  should  immediately  become  well.”6  Or  with  one  ill  in  his 
stomach  : “If  thou  findest  a man  with  constipation  . . . with  a pale  face 
and  beating  heart,  and  dost  find,  on  examining  him,  that  he  has  a hot  heart 
and  a swollen  body  ; that  is  an  ulcer  (?)  which  has  arisen  from  the  eating 
of  hot  substances.  Order  something  that  the  heat  may  be  cooled,  and 
his  bowels  opened,  namely,  a drink  of  sweet  beer  to  be  poured  over  dry 
Neq'aut  fruit  ; this  is  to  be  eaten  or  drunk  four  times.  When  that  which 
comes  from  him  looks  like  small  black  stones,  then  say  : ‘ This  inflammation 
departs.’  ...  If  after  thou  hast  done  this  thou  examinest  him  and  findest 
that  that  which  he  passes  resembles  beans,  on  which  is  dew  . . . then 
say  : ‘ That  which  was  in  his  stomach  has  departed.”  7 Other  obstructions 
in  the  abdomen  gave  rise  to  other  symptoms,  and  required  different  treat- 
ment, thus  when  the  doctor  put  his  fingers  on  the  abdomen  and  found  it  “go 
hither  and  thither  like  oil  in  a skin  bottle,”  s or  in  a case  when  the  patient 
“vomits  and  feels  very  ill,”  9 or  when  the  body  is  “hot  and  swollen.”  10 
If  the  illness  were  obstinate,  the  question  arose  which  was  to  be 
employed  out  of  many  various  remedies,  for  by  the  beginning  of  the  New 

1 Eb.,  99,  i ff. 

2 Eb.,  103,  1 ff.  In  the  text  before  us  eighteen  are  certainly  enumerated. 

3 Eb.,  99,  1 ff.  4 Eb.,  79,  5—86,  3. 

5 Above  all  the  book  of  diseases  of  the  stomach  : Eb. , 36,  4 — 43,  2. 

8 Eb.,  51,  19  ff.  7 Eb.,  42,  8 ff  8 Eb.,  40,  1. 

9 Eb.,  40,  15.  10  Eb. , 42,  10. 


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359 


Empire  the  number  of  prescriptions  had  increased  to  such  an  extent,  that 
for  some  diseases  there  were  frequently  a dozen  or  more  remedies,  from 
amongst  which  the  doctor  could  take  his  choice.  When  we  examine  them 
more  closely,  this  superfluity  of  recipes  becomes  more  limited.  Some 
medicines  were  supposed  to  act  at  once,  others  more  slowly  but  at  the 
same  time  more  surely:  “remedies”  and  “momentary  remedies.”  Many 
remedies  again  might  only  be  used  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year.  Thus 
amongst  the  prescriptions  for  the  eyes,  we  find  one  that  is  only  to  be  em- 
ployed during  the  first  and  second  months  of  the  winter,  whilst  another  is 
to  be  used  during  the  third  and  fourth  months,  and  of  a third  it  is  expressly 
stated  that  its  use  is  allowed  during  all  the  three  seasons  of  the  year.1 
In  the  same  way  the  doctor  had  often  to  consider  the  age  of  his  patients. 
In  cases  of  ischury  for  instance,  adults  might  take  a mixture  of  stagnant 
water,  dregs  of  beer,  green  dates,  and  other  vegetable  substances,  the  dose 
to  be  repeated  four  times  ; children  however  might  not  take  this  remedy, 
the  latter  were  to  have  an  old  piece  of  writing  soaked  in  oil  placed  as  a 
compress  round  the  body.2  A difference  was  also  to  be  observed  between 
child  and  child  ; we  read  in  one  place  : “ if  it  be  a big  child,  it  shall  take 
the  pills,  if  however  it  be  still  in  its  swaddling  clothes,  the  pills  shall  be 
dissolved  in  its  nurse’s  milk.”3  In  other  cases,  where  these  distinctions 
were  not  to  be  made,  the  doctor  had  not  often  much  difficulty  of  choice, 
for  the  prescriptions  were  of  various  degrees  of  excellence.  He  might  have 
tried  many  in  his  own  practice,  and  written  good  by  the  side  of  them  in 
his  own  prescription  book  ; 4 older  colleagues  might  already  have  made 
similar  remarks  in  the  margin  of  others,  eg.  “ excellent,  I have  seen  it, 
and  also  have  often  made  it  ” ; 5 or  again  : “ Behold  this  is  a real  remedy. 
It  was  found  in  an  examination  of  the  writings  in  the  temple  of  Uennofre.”6 
Other  remedies  may  have  owed  their  great  reputation  to  the  recovery 
of  some  famous  person  of  antiquity,7  others  again  to  their  foreign 
origin.  Thus  there  was  an  eye-salve,  said  to  have  been  discovered  by 
a “ Semite  of  Byblos  ” — it  was  valued  by  the  Egyptians  as  a Phoenician 
remedy,  in  the  same  way  as  many  esteem  an  American  nostrum  in  our 
days.8 

There  were  of  course  many  panaceas,  which  in  this  curious  rhetoric 
were  said  to  “ drive  out  the  fever  of  the  gods,  all  death  and  pain  from  the 
limbs  of  man,  so  that  he  immediately  becomes  well.”  9 These  wondrous 
remedies  were  not  invented  by  human  wisdom,  but  by  the  various  gods 
for  the  sun-god  Re‘,  who  had  to  suffer  from  all  kinds  of  diseases  and  pain 
before  he  withdrew  to  his  heavenly  repose.  Yet  in  spite  of  their  super- 
natural origin,  they  are  composed  very  much  in  the  same  way  as  the 
earthly  prescriptions.  One  for  instance  consists  of  honey,  wax,  and 
fourteen  vegetable  substances,  to  be  mixed  in  equal  parts  ; poultices  were 
to  be  made  of  the  mixture. 

1 Eb.,  6i,  4,  6,  15.  2 Eb.,  48.  22,  49,  15.  3 Eb.,  49,  22. 

4 Eb.,  35,  18,  and  frequently.  5 Eb.,  69,  17  ; it  may  perhaps  be  construed  otherwise. 

’’  Eb.,  75,  12.  7 Eb.,  63,  4,  66,  15.  8 Eb.,  63,  8.  9 Eb.,  46,  10 — 47,  10. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


l6o 


Many  believed  also  that  the  remedy  for  all  ills  was  to  be  found  in 
some  particular  plant,  eg.  the  tree  Dgam,  i.c.  probably  the  olive  tree.1 
In  an  “ancient  book  of  wisdom  for  mankind,”  amongst  other  things  we 
find  the  following  remarks  about  this  tree  : “If  the  boughs  are  crushed  in 
water  and  put  upon  a head  which  is  ill,  it  will  become  well  immediately, 
as  if  it  had  never  been  ill.  For  the  complaint  of  indigestion  (?)  let  the 
patient  take  some  of  the  fruit  in  beer  and  the  impure  moistness  will  be 
driven  out  of  his  body.  For  the  growth  of  a woman’s  hair  let  the  fruit 
be  pounded  and  kneaded  into  a lump  ; the  woman  must  then  put  it  in 
oil,  and  anoint  her  head  with  it.” 2 In  spite  of  these  virtues  vouched 
for  by  the  ancient  book , the  tree  does  not  appear  to  have  played  a great 
part  in  medicine, — we  meet  with  it  comparatively  seldom  in  the  pre- 
scriptions. 

By  far  the  greater  number  of  the  drugs  employed  were  of  vegetable 
origin  ; so  numerous  indeed  were  the  fruits  and  herbs  in  use,  that  a good 
knowledge  of  botany  was  essential  to  every  Egyptian  physician.  Many 
plants  were  indeed  so  rare  that  they  were  unknown  to  the  doctor.  The 
recipe  then  gives  a description  like  the  following  : “ the  herb  called  Smut ; 
it  grows  on  its  belly  (i.e.  creeps)  like  the  plant  Q'edet,  it  has  blossoms  like 
the  lotus  and  its  leaves  look  like  white  wood.”  3 

Ingredients  of  animal  origin  were  more  rare;  amongst  these  preference 
seems  to  have  been  given  to  substances  most  repulsive  to  us.  The  idea 
prevailed  in  Egyptian  as  in  all  folk-medicine,  that  a remedy  ought  not  to 
be  too  simple  or  too  commonplace.  A prescription  ought  if  possible  to 
contain  many  ingredients — there  was  in  fact  a poultice  which  was  com- 
posed of  thirty-five  different  substances  ; 4 it  was  also  necessary  that  the 
ingredients  should  be  rare  and  also  if  possible  disgusting.  Lizards’  blood, 
the  teeth  of  swine,  putrid  meat  and  stinking  fat,  the  moisture  from  pigs’ 
ears  and  the  milk  of  a lying-in  woman,  and  a hundred  other  similar 
things,  were  favourite  ingredients.  Above  all,  certain  substances  valued 
for  the  healing  craft  were  the  same  that  were  also  revered  so  highly  by 
the  apothecaries  of  our  17th  century,  viz.  excreta  of  all  kinds.  The 
excreta  of  adults,  of  children,  of  donkeys,  antelopes,  dogs,  pigs,  cats, 
and  other  animals,  down  to  the  “ dirt  of  flies  found  on  the  walls  ” ; all  this 
is  enough  to  disgust  any  one. 5 

It  would  not  however  be  right  to  deny  the  possibility  of  results  to 
Egyptian  medicine  because  of  this  admixture  of  absurdity.  Even  with 
the  recipes  described  above,  good  cures  would  be  possible  supposing  that 
combined  with  senseless  but  harmless  ingredients  they  contained  even  one 
substance  that  was  efficacious.  In  many  recipes  we  can  discover  one  such 
useful  ingredient, — as  a rule  something  quite  common,  like  honey,  beer,  or 
oil.  . It  would  have  been  sufficient  to  use  that  alone,  but  as  no  special  good 
result  could  be  expected  from  anything  so  commonplace,  it  was  thought 

1 Br.  Wb.  Suppl.,  1378.  2 Eb.,  47,  16  ff. 

3 Eb.,  51,  15.  4 Eb.,  82,  22. 

° A good  summary  of  these  details  is  to  be  found  in  Stern’s  glossary  to  the  Pap.  Ebers. 


XIV 


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361 


better  to  add  to  it  all  manner  of  possible  and  impossible  things.  In 
consequence,  many  recipes  against  ills  of  one  class  contain  several  identical 
substances,  though  the  others  vary  ; the  efficacy  depends  on  the  former. 
This  explains  also  the  astonishing  number  of  recipes  ; doctors  in  search 
of  novelties  might  change  the  various  indifferent  ingredients  as  they  liked, 
whilst  the  remedy  itself  was  neither  the  better  nor  the  worse. 

The  outward  form  of  some  of  these  old  recipes  is  more  satisfactory 
than  the  contents  we  have  described.  In  perspicacity  and  brevity  there 
is  nothing  to  be  desired.  In  the  first  place  there  is  a superscription  giving 
the  object  of  the  prescription  : 

“ Remedy  to  draw  the  blood  from  a wound  ” ; then  come  the  ingredients 
with  the  statement  of  the  quantities  : 


“ Wax  .....  1 

Fat  ......  1 

Date-wine  (?)  . . . 1 

Honey  .....  1 

Boiled  horn  . . . . I ” 


then  (generally  in  abbreviated  form)  some  necessary  remarks  about  the 
preparation  and  use  of  the  remedy  : “ boil,  mix  together,  make  fomenta- 
tions therewith  four  times.”1  All  manner  of  fine  distinctions  were 
observed  ; there  were  distinct  terms  for  pound  and  triturate , for  mix  and 
mix  together , for  fomentations  and  embrocations , for  anoint  and  apply  to , and 
in  his  prescription-book  the  doctor  would  carefully  correct  a somewhat 
ambiguous  term  into  one  more  exact. 2 

The  medicine  was  supposed  to  enter  the  vessels  of  the  body  mentioned 
above,  and  this  could  be  effected  in  various  ways,  either  as  a drink,  or  in 
the  form  of  pills,  or  in  embrocations  or  fomentations.  Inhalation  was  also 
employed  ; thus  in  the  illness  setyt,  a common  complaint  of  the  stomach, 
the  remedy  for  which  was  generally  warm  milk  with  various  additional 
substances,  it  was  also  useful  to  take  the  plants  T'e'am  and  ‘ Amamu  in 
equal  parts,  “ to  reduce  them  to  fine  powder,  to  put  them  on  the  fire,  and 
to  inhale  the  rising  steam  through  a reed.”  3 The  following  recipe  was  more 
complicated  but  more  efficacious;  it  was  to  be  employed  in  the  same  illness: 

“ The  seeds  of  the  sweet  wood  roof 
The  seeds  of  Mene 
The  plant  'A' am 

reduce  to  powder.  Then  take  seven  stones  and  warm  them  at  the  fire. 
Take  one  of  the  same,  put  some  of  the  remedy  on  it  and  put  a new  pot 
over  it.  Knock  a piece  out  of  the  bottom  of  the  pot  and  stick  a reed 
into  the  hole.  Put  thy  mouth  to  this  reed  so  as  to  inhale  the  rising 
steam.  Do  the  same  with  the  other  six  stones.  Afterwards  eat  some  fat, 
eg.  fat  meat  or  oil.”4 

1 Eb.,  70,  5.  2 Eb.,  70,  3.  2 Ebi>  54;  8 4 Eb ^ 54>  l8 


362 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


It  is  particularly  interesting  to  compare  the  number  of  recipes  in  the 
separate  sections  of  the  medical  books,  for  in  this  way  we  can  judge  pretty 
well  of  the  comparative  frequency  of  the  various  diseases.  The  remedies 
for  diseases  of  the  eyes  occur  so  frequently  as  to  form  a tenth  part  of  the 
whole  ; this  shows  how  common  were  such  complaints.  Probably  in  old 
times  ophthalmia  was  as  prevalent  in  Egypt  as  it  is  at  the  present  day, 
and  as  this  terrible  scourge  is  now  due  in  great  measure  to  the  want  of 
cleanliness  amongst  the  people,  we  may  assume  that  the  same  conditions 
probably  existed  in  old  times.  The  same  unwashen  children  with  their 
eyes  discharging,  and  their  faces  literally  covered  with  flies,  probably 
formed  the  same  inevitable  figure -groups  in  the  street  scenes  as  they 
do  now. 

The  remedies  are  also  very  numerous  “to  kill  worms”  or  “to  drive 
out  the  disease  which  gives  rise  to  worms.” 1 * The  latter  expression  is 
due  to  the  singular  idea  that  worms  are  not  the  cause  but  rather  the  effect, 
the  symptom  of  the  disease.  They  thought  that  (in  consequence,  perhaps, 
of  an  obstruction)  a gathering  formed  inside  the  human  body,  “which 
could  find  no  way  to  discharge  ; it  then  became  corrupt  and  was  trans- 
formed into  worms.”  ~ 

The  department  of  women’s  diseases  was  of  course  as  extensive  in 
Egypt  as  it  has  been  and  is  in  all  countries,  and  in  addition  to  the  mother, 
the  child  at  her  breast  was  not  forgotten.  We  learn  that  from  the  first 
cry  one  could  foretell  its  chance  of  life  ; if  he  cried  ny,  he  would  live, 
if  he  cried  vibe' , he  would  die.3  We  learn  also  how  it  was  possible  to 
tell  the  goodness  of  the  mother’s  milk  from  the  smell,4  and  a recipe  is 
given  for  quieting  the  immoderate  crying  of  children.  The  remedy 
which  worked  this  miracle 5 was  a mixture  of  the  seeds  of  the  plant 
S/iepen,  and  of  the  everlasting  fly -dirt ; the  second  ingredient  was  of 
course  useless,  the  first  may  have  been  most  efficacious,  especially  if  the 
plant  S/iepen  was  the  same  as  that  now  used  to  quiet  children  in  Upper 
Egypt,  viz.  the  poppy. 

We  now  come  to  the  household  remedies,  which  in  Egypt  formed 
a strange  appendage  to  medicine.  The  doctor  was  not  only  required  to 
furnish  cosmetics,  to  colour  the  hair  (cp.  p.  232),  to  improve  the  skin,6  and 
to  beautify  the  limbs,7  but  people  entreated  his  assistance  against  house 
vermin.  He  was  ready  to  give  advice.  In  order  “to  drive”  fleas,  that 
plague  of  Egypt,  “ out  of  the  house,”  he  would  order  the  house  to  be 
sprinkled  with  natron  water,  or  he  would  cause  it  to  be  “ properly  swept 
out”  8 with  charcoal  mixed  with  the  powdered  plant  Bebet.  As  a protection 
against  fly-stings  he  might  order  the  fat  of  the  woodpecker,  while  fresh 
palm-wine  would  protect  against  gnat-stings.9  A dried  fish  or  a piece 
of  natron,  if  laid  upon  a snake’s  hole,  would  prevent  this  dreaded  invader 
of  Egyptian  houses  from  venturing  out.10  Supposing  however  they 

1 Eb.,  20,  16,  23  ; 21,  14.  - Eb.,  25,  3 ff.  3 Eb.,  97,  13. 

4 Eb.,  93,  17  ; 94,  9.  5 Eb.,  93,  3.  6 Eb.,  87,  3. 

7 Eb.,  87,  4.  8 Eb.,  97,  15.  9 Eb.  97,  20.  10  Eb.,  97,  17. 


XIV 


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363 


wished  to  protect  something  in  the  house  from  the  mice,  a piece  of  cat’s 
fat  had  to  be  laid  upon  it,  for  then  the  mice  would  not  approach  it, 
evidently  they  were  supposed  to  imagine  that  the  cat  was  at  no  great 
distance.1  It  is  more  difficult  to  explain  the  antipathy  which  rats 
were  supposed,  according  to  Egyptian  belief,  to  have  to  the  excreta  of 
gazelles.  In  order  to  keep  these  dreaded  visitors  away  from  the 
granaries,  they  were  to  take  “ excreta  of  gazelles,  put  it  on  the  fire  in 
the  granary,  then  scour  with  water  the  walls  and  floor  where  traces  of 
rats  were  to  be  seen  ; the  consequence  will  be  that  no  more  corn  will  be 
eaten.”  2 

I cannot  conclude  this  sketch  of  Egyptian  medicine  without  referring 
to  one  other  point. 

It  is  wonderful  how  faithful  the  modern  inhabitants  of  Egypt  have 
remained  to  much  of  this  strange  medicine.  Centuries  have  elapsed,  the 
country  has  passed  through  the  most  terrible  revolutions,  the  language  is 
different,  the  religion  has  twice  been  changed,  the  people  have  lost  all 
remembrance  of  their  former  greatness,  but  yet  they  have  not  forgotten 
that  the  excreta  of  dogs  and  the  bones  of  fish  are  excellent  remedies. 
“ Against  all  kinds  of  witchcraft,”  the  ancient  Egyptian  employed  the 
following  as  a good  preventive : “ a great  scarabaeus  beetle  ; cut  off  his 
head  and  his  wings,  boil  him,  put  him  in  oil,  and  lay  him  out.  Then  cook 
his  head  and  his  wings,  put  them  in  snake-fat,  boil,  and  let  the  patient 
drink  the  mixture.”3 *  When  the  modern  Egyptian  wishes  to  cure 
haemorrhoids,  he  takes  a black  beetle,  bakes  it  in  oil,  he  then  removes 
the  wing-cases  and  the  head,  and  softens  them  in  oil  over  a gentle  fired 
It  is  the  same  recipe,  except  that  the  snake-fat  is  replaced  by  ordinary 
oil. 

Still  more  remarkable  than  these  examples  are  other  superstitions 
which  have  spread  into  Europe.  In  a medical  papyrus  in  the  Berlin 
museum,  the  following  artifice  is  described,  by  which  one  might  be  certain 
as  to  the  prospect  of  a woman  having  children  or  not.  “ The  herb  Bededn- 
Ka,  powdered  and  soaked  in  the  milk  of  a woman  who  has  borne  a son. 
Let  the  woman  eat  it  . . . if  she  vomits  it,  she  will  bear  a child,  if  she 
has  flatulence,  she  will  not  bear.”  The  same  curious  recipe  is  given  by 
Hippocrates  : Take  figs  or  the  plant  Butyros  and  the  milk  of  a woman 
who  has  borne  a boy,  and  let  the  woman  drink  it.  If  she  vomits,  she  will 
bear  a child,  if  not,  she  will  have  no  child.5  The  same  old  papyrus  tells 
us  a simple  way  of  knowing  whether  a woman  will  bear  a boy  or  a girl. 
It  is  only  needful  to  steep  some  wheat  and  some  spelt  in  some  water  she  has 
passed  ; if  the  wheat  sprouts,  it  will  be  a boy,  if  the  spelt  sprouts,  it  will  be 
a girl.  This  recipe  is  not  indeed  to  be  found  in  Hippocrates,  but  by  some 
means  it  came  into  Europe,  for  in  an  ingenious  book  of  the  seventeenth 

1 Eh.,  98,  1.  2 Eb.,  98,  6.  3 Eb 88;  I3. 

4 Klunzinger,  390.  Cp.  also  ib. , 391  with  Eb.,  63,  14  (inflexion  of  the  eyelashes). 

5 Le  Page  Renouf,  A.  Z.,  1873,  I23-  The  papyrus  is  in  the  Recueil  II.,  published  by  Brugsch  ; 

the  passages  quoted  here  are  in  pi.  106,  107. 


364 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


century,1  Peter  Boyer  thus  speaks  : “ Make  two  holes  in  the  ground,  throw 
barley  into  the  one  and  wheat  into  the  other,  then  pour  into  both  the 
water  of  the  pregnant  woman,  and  cover  them  up  again  with  earth.  If 
the  wheat  shoots  before  the  barley,  it  will  be  a boy,  but  if  the  barley  comes 
up  first,  thou  must  expect  a daughter.”  There  is  also  a little  English 
book,  called  The  experienced  Midwife , in  which  this  recipe  appears  in  a 
somewhat  modified  form.'-’  We  see  that  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians 
has  found  its  last  refuge  with  the  old  herbalists  and  fortune-tellers. 

Every  department  of  Egyptian  intellectual  activity  that  we  have  as 
yet  examined,  we  have  found  to  be  overgrown  with  superstition  and  magic. 
One  branch  of  science,  viz.  mathematics,  remains  however  untouched,  so  far 
as  we  know,  by  these  noxious  weeds.  Thanks  to  a papyrus  in  the  British 
Museum,3  we  are  now  pretty  well  informed  on  this  subject.  This  book, 
which  is  a copy  made  under  one  of  the  Hyksos  kings  of  an  older  work,  is 
a collection  of  specimen  examples  of  all  kinds  of  arithmetical  and  geomet- 
rical problems,  and  thus  it  gives  us  a good  idea  of  the  proficiency  the 
Egyptians  had  then  attained.  Their  knowledge  of  this  science  at  that 
time  was  not  very  great,  and  we  doubt  whether  they  carried  their  studies 
much  further  even  under  the  New  Empire,  for,  more  than  a century  and 
a half  later,  we  find  in  the  agricultural  lists  of  the  temple  of  Edfu  the 
same  primitive  ideas  of  geometry  which  are  contained  in  our  old  book. 
Mathematics  as  well  as  medicine  seems  to  have  remained  stationary  at 
the  same  stage  that  it  had  reached  under  the  Old  Empire  ; progress 
was  made  in  certain  details,  but  a genius  seems  never  to  have  arisen  to 
give  a fresh  impetus  to  this  science.  There  was  indeed  no  need.  The 
problems  presented  to  the  skill  of  the  arithmetician  were  ever  the  same,  and 
if  the  solution,  which  was  often  only  an  approximate  one,  had  contented 
the  government  of  the  Old  Empire,  it  sufficed  also  for  that  of  the  New 
Empire.  Mathematics  served  merely  a practical  purpose  for  the  ancient 
Egyptians, — they  only  solved  the  problems  of  everyday  life,  they  never 
formulated  and  worked  out  problems  for  their  own  sake.  How  certain 
eatables  were  to  be  divided  as  payments  of  wages  ; how,  in  the  exchange 
of  bread  for  beer , the  respective  value  was  to  be  determined  when  con- 
verted into  a quantity  of  corn  ; how  to  reckon  the  size  of  a field  ; how  to 
determine  whether  a given  quantity  of  corn  would  go  into  a granary  of  a 
certain  size — these  and  similar  problems  were  taught  in  the  arithmetic 
book. 

In  pure  arithmetical  examples  there  are  no  errors  as  far  as  I can  see, 
at  most  a small  fraction  is  sometimes  purposely  disregarded.  Everything 
is  worked  out  in  the  slowest  and  most  cumbrous  manner — even  the 

1 Paullini,  Neu-vermehrte  Heilsame  Dreckapotheke.  Frankfurt  a.  M.,  1697,  p.  248.  A 
careful  perusal  of  this  literature  would  doubtless  give  many  similar  instances  in  proof. 

2 Le  Page  Renouf,  A.  Z.,  1873,  124. 

3 Pap.  Rhind  (a  mathematical  handbook  of  the  ancient  Plgyptians,  Leipzig,  1877),  utilised  by 
me  in  accordance  with  Eisenlohr’s  explanatory  publication.  I have  followed  throughout  Eisenlohr’s 
explanation  of  the  calculations,  without  always  agreeing  with  his  interpretation  of  the  words  of 
the  text. 


XIV 


LEARNING 


365 


multiplication  of  the  most  simple  numbers.  If,  for  instance,  the  school- 
boy had  to  find  out  in  his  sum  the  product  of  8 times  8,  this  difficult 
problem  would  be  written  out  thus  : 

1 8 

2 1 6 
4 32 

—8  64 

Evidently  in  mental  arithmetic,  he  was  only  equal  to  multiplication 
by  2}  Strange  to  say  also,  he  had  no  proper  method  for  division  ; he 
scarcely  seems  to  have  had  a clear  idea  of  what  division  meant.  He 
did  not  ask  how  many  times  7 was  contained  in  77,  but  with  which 
number  7 was  to  be  multiplied  that  the  product  might  be  77.  In  order 
to  discover  the  answer  he  wrote  out  the  multiplication  table  of  7,  in 
the  various  small  numbers,  and  then  tried  which  of  these  products  added 
together  would  give’  77  : 

- -1  7 

— 2 14 
4 28 
— 8 56 

In  this  instance  the  multiplicators  belonging  to  7 and  14  and  56 
are  marked  by  the  pupil  with  a stroke  and  give  the  numbers  wanted. 
Therefore  it  is  necessary  to  multiply  7 by  1 + 2 + 8,  i.e.  by  1 1,  in  order 
to  obtain  the  77,  7 goes  1 1 times  in  77.  If  the  question  were  how 

often  is  8 contained  in  19,  or  in  other  words  what  number  must  8 be 
multiplied  by  to  obtain  19,  the  result  of  the  sum  : 2 

8 

1 6 

4 
2 
I 

would  be  that  2 and  4 and  ^ are  the  desired  numbers,  for  the  addition  of 
the  numbers  belonging  to  them  would  exactly  make  19.  We  should  say: 
8 goes  2^  times  in  19. 

In  connection  with  this  imperfect  understanding  of  division,  it  is 
easy  to  understand  that  the  Egyptian  student  had  no  fractions  in  our 
arithmetical  sense.  He  could  quite  well  comprehend  that  a thing  could  be 
divided  into  a certain  number  of  parts,  and  he  had  a special  term  for  such 
a part,  eg.  re-met  — mouth  of  ten,  i.e.  a tenth.  This  part  however  was  always 
a unit  to  him,  he  never  thought  of  it  in  the  plural  ; they  could  speak  of 
“ one  tenth  and  a tenth  and  a tenth  ” or  “ of  a fifth  and  a tenth,”  but 
our  familiar  idea  of  did  not  exist  in  the  mind  of  the  Egyptian.  Two 


1 Math.  Handb.  Nr.  50  (PI.  17). 


2 Math.  Handb.  Nr.  24  (PI.  11). 


366 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


thirds  was  an  exception  ; for  ^ he  possessed  a term  and  a sign, — it  was  his 
only  fraction  which  was  not  of  the  most  simple  kind.  When  he  had  to 
divide  a smaller  number  by  a greater,  for  instance  5 by  7,  he  could  not 
represent  the  result  as  we  do  by  the  fraction  -if,  but  had  to  do  it  in  the  most 
tiresome  roundabout  fashion.  He  analysed  the  problem  either  by  the 
division  of  1 by  7 five  times,  so  that  the  result  would  be  ^ + -if-  + T -+-  T, 

or  more  usually  he  took  the  division  of  2 by  7 twice  and  that  of  1 by  7 
once.  There  were  special  tables  which  gave  him  the  practical  result  of 
the  division  of  2 by  the  odd  numbers  of  the  first  hundred.  1 2 He 
thus  obtained  T ITS’  t>  which  he  then  knew  how  to  reduce  to 

l + i+i 

2^7'  14' 

If  by  this  awkward  mechanism  they  obtained  sufficiently  exact 
results,  it  was  owing  exclusively  to  the  routine  of  their  work.  The  range 
of  the  examples  which  occurred  was  such  a narrow  one,  that  for  each 
there  was  an  established  formula.  Each  calculation  had  its  special  name 
and  its  short  conventional  form,  which  when  once  practised  was  easily 
repeated.  The  following  example  giving  the  calculation  of  a number 
may  illustrate  what  has  been  said  : L’ 


a. 

A number  together  with  its  fifth  part  makes  21. 

b. 

1 5 

5 1 together  6. 

c. 

— 1 6 

2 I 2 

— ^ 3 together  2 1 . 

d. 

1 1 1 

' — "I  $2 

2 7 

— 4 1 5 (read  1 4) 

e.  | 

The  number  1 7^- 

1 3^-  together  2 1. 

I scarcely  think  that  the  most  expert  arithmetician  will  grasp  what 
these  figures  mean  ; it  is  only  by  the  comparison  of  similar  calculations 
that  we  can  understand  all  these  abbreviations.  The  proposition  formu- 
lated by  a corresponds  to  the  equation  ,r  + if  = 2 1,  the  result  of  which 
x = 1 7 .V  is  given  quite  correctly  in  e.  As  the  Egyptian  could  not  very 
well  calculate  in  fractions,  he  had  next  to  create  this  wretched  if  x ; this 
he  did  thus  : in  b he  multiplies  the  number  and  the  fifth  of  the  number 
by  5,  which  together  makes  6.  In  c 21  is  divided  according  to  the 
cumbrous  Egyptian  method  by  this  6,  the  result  being  3^.  This  3^ 
would  have  been  the  desired  number  if  we  had  not  beforehand  in  b 
changed  the  fraction  fj  into  the  number  6 by  multiplication  with  5 ; the 
result  of  our  division  must  therefore  be  made  five  times  greater.  This 
multiplication  takes  place  in  d,  and  gives  the  final  result  17-J-.  In  e we 


Math.  Ilandb.  (PI.  1-8). 


2 Math.  Iiandb.  Nr.  27  (PI.  11). 


XIV 


LEARNING 


367 


find  the  example  is  proved  by  adding  together  this  1 with  the  1 
obtained  above,  namely  3^-,  which  correctly  gives  the  2 1 of  our  problem. 
Written  after  our  fashion,  the  whole  would  stand  thus  : 

(a)  | x = 2 1 

(b)  6 x — 21x5 
if)  V x 5 
(d)  x=  3|-x  5 
0)  x = 1 

Proof:  I7^-+3|-=2l. 

The  Egyptians  knew  still  less  of  geometry  than  they  did  of  arithmetic, 
though  surface-measurement  was  most  necessary  to  them,  because  of  the 
destruction  of  so  many  field  boundaries  in  the  inundation  every  year. 
All  their  calculations  were  founded  on  the  right  angle,  the  content  of 
which  they  correctly  determined  as  the  product  of  the  two  sides.1  But 
in  the  strangest  way  they  quite  overlooked  the  fact  that  every  quadrilateral 
figure,  in  which  the  opposite  sides  are  of  the  same  length,  could  not  be 
treated  in  the  same  manner.  Now  as  they  treated  each  triangle  as  if  it  were 
a quadrangle,  in  which  two  sides  are  identical,  and  the  others  are  half  the 
size,  they  carried  this  error  into  the  calculation  of  triangles  also.  To  them 
also  an  isosceles  triangle  equalled  half  the  product  of  its  short  and  its  long 
side,2  because  they  would  in  all  cases  determine  the  quadrangle  correspond- 
ing to  it  by  the  multiplication  of  its  two  sides,  though  it  were  nothing  but 
a right  angle.  The  error  which  would  arise  from  this  kind  of  misconcep- 
tion might  be  considerable  under  some  circumstances. 

The  calculation  of  the  trapezium  3 suffered  also  from  the  same  error  ; 
in  order  to  find  its  content,  they  would  multiply  the  oblique  side  by  half 
the  product  of  the  two  parallel  sides.  As  we  see,  the  fundamental  mistake 
of  these  students  of  surface-measurement  was  that  they  never  realised  the 
value  of  the  perpendicular  ; instead  of  the  latter  they  used  one  of  the 
oblique  sides,  and  therewith  from  the  outset  they  excluded  themselves 
from  the  correct  manner  of  working.  It  is  remarkable  that,  with  such 
errors,  they  should  have  rightly  determined  approximately  the  difficult 
question  of  the  area  of  a circle  ; in  this  case  they  deducted  a ninth  of  the 
diameter,  and  multiplied  the  remainder  of  the  same  by  itself.  Thus  if  the 
diameter  of  a circle  amounted  to  9 rods,  they  would  calculate  its  area  to 
be  8 x 8 = 64  square  rods,  a result  which  would  deviate  from  the  correct 
result  by  but  about  | of  a square  rod.4 

Amongst  the  volumetric  problems  which  they  attempted,  they  would 
calculate,  for  instance,  the  quantity  of  corn  which  would  go  into  a granary 
of  a certain  size  ; the  little  that  we  can  as  yet  understand  with  any 
certainty  of  these  problems  seems  to  indicate  right  conceptions,  but  the 
conditions  are  here  too  complicated  for  us  to  give  a decided  opinion. 


1 Math.  Handb.  Nr.  49  (PI.  17). 

3 Math.  Handb.  Nr.  52  (PI.  17). 


- Math.  Handb.  Nr.  51  (PI.  17). 
4 Math.  Handb.  Nr.  50  (PL  17). 


368 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP.  XIV 


Probably  however  if  we  understood  them,  it  would  not  much  alter  our 
general  impression  as  to  the  mathematics  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  : our 
conclusion  on  this  subject  is  that  there  is  little  to  be  said  for  their 
theoretic  knowledge  of  this  science,  but  their  practical  knowledge  sufficed 
very  well  for  the  simple  requirements  of  daily  life. 


SMALL  STELA,  DEDICATED  BY  AMENHOTEP,  A SCKIBE,  TO  AMON  r£‘, 
PROBABLY  FOR  THE  CURE  OF  A BAD  EAR. 

(Wilk.  ii.  358,  from  Thebes.) 


THE  WOLF  AS  GOAT-HERD  AND  THE  CAT  AS  GOOSE-HERD. 

From  the  satirical  pictures  in  a London  papyrus.  (After  the  restoration  in  Lepsius,  Auswahl,  pi.  23.) 


CHAPTER  XV 

LITERATURE 

Fairy  tales  have  always  rejoiced  the  heart  of  the  Egyptian,  both  of 
ancient  and  modern  days,  and  when  the  treasury  of  the  fairy  lore  of  the 
fellahin  was  brought  to  light,  the  learned  discoverer  conjectured  at  once 
that  these  tales  were  to  a large  extent  of  very  early  origin.1  In  fact  a 
comparatively  large  number  of  tales  of  very  similar  character  have  come 
down  to  us  from  the  various  periods  of  Egyptian  history  ; hence  we  learn 
the  delight  the  old  Egyptians  found  in  story-telling.  These  slight  poetical 
compositions  were  doubtless  favourites  with  the  Egyptian  peasantry  of  all 
ages,  though  they  may  not  always  have  enjoyed  the  same  repute  in  their 
literature.  We  know  nothing  of  the  literary  conditions  that  existed  before 
the  time  of  the  Middle  Empire  ; several  tales  of  that  period  have  however 
come  down  to  us,  and  the  contents  of  these  show  that  they  were  of  popular 
origin.  A remarkable  fragment  contained  in  a Berlin  papyrus  is  also, 
comparatively  speaking,  of  homely  form.  It  relates  that  a shepherd 
caught  a glimpse  of  a goddess  in  the  marshes,  and  fell  deeply  in  love  with 
her  : “ he  had  never  spoken  to  her,  (but)  her  power  pursued  his  body.” 
He  then  caused  the  wisest  of  the  magic  formulae  of  the  shepherds  to  be 
read,  and  “ as  it  dawned  quite  early  . . . and  he  had  placed  himself  before 
the  lake,  then  she  came  divested  of  her  clothes  and  with  disordered  hair.”  2 
What  she  said  to  him  the  reader  must  imagine  for  himself,  for  unfortunately 
an  old  proprietor  of  the  book  thought  well  to  wash  off  the  end  as  well  as 
the  beginning  of  the  papyrus,  in  order  to  provide  himself  in  a cheap 
way  with  clean  paper.3 

The  Egyptians  of  the  Middle  Empire  seem  to  have  been  especially 
fond  of  stories  of  travel,  in  which  the  hero  relates  his  own  adventures. 
Out  of  the  half-dozen  books  which  we  possess  of  this  period,  two  at 

1 Cp.  the  remarks  of  Spitta  In  his  Contes  arabes.  2 Berlin  Pap.,  24,  E — F. 

3 Examples  of  this  economy  are  frequent  under  the  M.  E.  and  the  N.  E. 

2 B 


37° 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


least  contain  narratives  of  this  kind,  whilst  we  have  not  a single  one  of 
later  date.  In  the  first  (which  we  shall  treat  in  more  detail  in  the  19th 
chapter)  a shipwrecked  sailor  narrates  his  wonderful  experiences  on  the 
fabulous  snake-island  ; the  other  story  has  less  the  character  of  a romance, 
— it  describes  the  fate  of  an  exile  amongst  the  Syrian  Beduins.  The  tale 
is  simple  and  homely,  there  is  nothing  remarkable  in  the  contents,  and  the 
fame  that  the  book  enjoyed  for  centuries  must  have  been  due  to  the 
charm  of  its  half  poetic  style.1  Sinuhe,  a distinguished  courtier  of  King 
Amenemhe't  I.,  accompanied  the  heir  and  co-regent  of  this  king  in  an 
expedition  against  the  Libyans  ; in  the  meantime  the  old  king  died  ; the 
news  of  his  death  reached  the  camp,  and  Sinuhe,  whose  life — we  know  not 
why — was  endangered  by  this  circumstance,  immediately  took  to  flight. 
He  escaped  safely  to  the  eastern  frontier  of  Egypt,  but  it  was  dangerous 
to  pass  this  frontier,  because  it  was  fortified  by  defences — “ the  princely 
wall  erected  for  defence  against  the  Beduins.”  “ I then  crouched  down  in 
the  bushes,”  so  he  relates,  “ for  fear  that  the  watchmen  on  the  roof  of  the 
tower  should  see  me.  I went  on  by  night,  and  by  daybreak  I reached  the 
country  of  Peten.  When  I approached  the  lake  Qem-uer  (evidently  one 
of  the  Bitter  Lakes)  thirst  seized  me — and  my  throat  burned.  Then  I 
said  : 1 This  is  the  taste  of  death.’  (All  at  once)  my  heart  revived,  I 
roused  myself : I heard  the  lowing  of  a herd.  I caught  sight  of  an  Asiatic. 

. . . He  gave  me  water,  and  I boiled  myself  some  milk.  Then  I went 
with  him  to  his  people  . . . and  one  tribe  passed  me  on  to  the  next.  . . . 
I left  Beht  (?)  and  came  to  Oedem,  and  spent  a year  and  a half  there. 
Then  ‘Amu-’en-sh’e,  the  prince  of  the  upper  land  of  Tenu,  took  me  to  him 
and  said  to  me  : 1 Remain  with  me,  then  shalt  thou  hear  something  of 
Egypt.’  He  said  that  because  he  knew  who  I was  ; he  had  heard  of  my 
valour,  and  the  Egyptians  who  were  with  him  testified  of  the  same. 
Then  he  said  further  to  me  : ‘ Why  hast  thou  come  hither  ? What  has 
happened  ? Something  must  have  happened  at  the  court  of  King 
Amenemhe't,  who  has  gone  to  heaven,  without  its  being  known  more- 
over what  had  happened.’  I answered  : ‘ That  is  false.’  ” Then  Sinuhe 
launches  forth  in  long  eulogies  of  the  late  and  of  the  reigning  king,  and 
of  their  great  power  against  all  countries  ; and  hints  (if  I rightly  under- 
stand) to  the  barbarians,  that  it  would  be  well  for  them  to  secure  him  as 
a mediator  for  future  occasions,  for  King  Usertsen  would  probably  carry 
his  arms  into  this  part  of  the  country  again.  This  seemed  good  to  the 
Beduin,  and  he  kept  Sinuhe  to  live  with  him.  “ He  placed  me,”  relates 
our  hero,  “ at  the  head  of  his  children,  and  married  me  to  his  eldest 
daughter.  He  let  me  choose  from  amongst  his  lands,  from  amongst  his 
choicest  possessions  on  the  frontier  of  another  country.  This  was  the 
beautiful  country  of  ’Eaa  ; figs  and  vines  grew  there,  there  were  many 

1 Two  ostraca  show  that  even  under  the  New  Empire  these  tales  were  considered  classical 
literature.  In  the  beginning  of  1 886  one  ostracon  was  found  in  a Theban  tomb  of  the  20th  dynasty 
containing  the  beginning  of  the  book,  though  in  a badly  arranged  text  ; the  other  is  in  London  and 
contains  the  last  few  lines. 


XV 


LITERA  TURE 


37i 


sorts  of  wine  and  it  was  rich  in  honey,  its  olive  trees  were  plentiful,  and 
all  kinds  of  fruits  grew  on  its  trees.  There  was  corn  there,  and  barley,  and 
herds  without  number.  And  there  was  yet  more  that  happened  to  me 
from  love  to  me  (?),  for  he  made  me  prince  of  a tribe  of  his  country.  Then 
I had  as  much  bread  as  I wanted,  and  wine  for  every  day,  boiled  meat 
and  roast  goose,  irrespective  of  the  game  of  the  country  that  I caught  and 
carried  off  as  spoil,  and  irrespective  of  what  my  greyhounds  brought  me. 

. . . Thus  I spent  many  years,  and  my  children  became  heroes,  each  the 
protector  of  his  adopted  tribe.  The  messenger  who  came  from  the  court 
or  went  thither  stayed  with  me,  I gave  hospitality  to  every  one,  and  I 
gave  water  to  the  thirsty.”  . . . Opportunities  for  warlike  deeds  were  also 
not  lacking  in  the  country  of  Tenu, — “I  subdued  each  people  against  whom 
I marched,  I drove  them  from  their  pastures  and  from  their  wells.  I 
captured  their  cattle,  and  carried  off  their  children  ; I robbed  them  of  their 
food  ; I killed  their  people  with  my  sword,  with  my  bow,  with  my  marches, 
with  my  wise  designs.  ...  A hero  of  Tenu  came  and  challenged  (?)  me 
in  my  tent.  He  was  a daring  man  (?)  he  had  no  equal,  he  had  subdued 
everybody.  He  said  : ‘ Let  him  fight  with  me  ’ ; he  thought  (?)  he  would 
slay  me,  he  imagined  he  would  carry  off  my  cattle.  . . .”  After  much 
speaking,  in  which  eg.  the  warriors  are  compared  to  bulls  who  are  fighting 
for  their  cows,  it  comes  at  last  really  to  a hand-to-hand  fight  : “ I shot  at 
him,  and  my  weapon  stuck  in  his  neck  ; he  cried  out,  he  fell  on  his  nose.” 
The  victory  was  decisive,  and  “ all  the  Beduins  cried  out.  Then  I took 
away  his  possessions,  I carried  off  his  cattle  ; what  he  thought  to  have  done 
to  me,  that  did  I to  him.” 

Life  amongst  the  Beduins  however  did  not  content  this  distinguished 
Egyptian  for  ever  ; as  he  grew  old  and  felt  his  end  approaching,  he  could 
bear  it  no  longer,  and  wrote  a piteous  letter  to  the  king,  praying  for  the 
favour  of  the  monarch  and  of  his  consort.  The  second  half  of  the  book 
relates  to  us  how  graciously  the  king  answered,  and  the  graceful  reply  of 
Sinuhe  to  this  royal  command ; next,  how  a messenger  was  sent  to  fetch 
him,  how  he  bequeathed  his  property  to  his  children,  how  at  the  court  he 
besought  the  king  for  favour,  and  how  the  royal  children  interceded  for 
him.  All  this  account  gives  the  author  ample  opportunity  to  show  himself 
a master  of  fine  language.  We  will  leave  these  high-flown  and  rather 
obscure  sentences,  and  consider  the  conclusion  : “His  Majesty  said  : ‘ Let 
him  not  be  afraid  ...  he  shall  be  a friend  amongst  the  princes,  and  he 
shall  be  received  amongst  the  courtiers.  Go  to  the  chamber  of  adoration, 
in  order  to  show  him  his  rank.’ 1 When  they  now  came  out  of  the  chamber, 
the  royal  children  gave  him  their  hands,  and  they  then  went  to  the  great 
double  outer  hall."  He  was  received  into  a house  in  which  an  honourable 
son  of  the  king  dwelt.”  . . . There  servants  attended  to  his  toilet,  and 
“ they  caused  the  age  of  his  body  to  pass  away.”  His  hair  was  brought 
into  order,  and  fine  robes  were  put  upon  him  : he  “ forsook  the  vermin  of 
the  desert  and  the  (rough)  clothes  of  the  Beduins.”  He  was  anointed 

1 Cp.  the  “house  of  adoration,”  see  pp.  69,  70.  2 Cp.  p.  58. 


372 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


with  the  finest  oil,  and  laid  to  rest  on  a beautiful  couch.  A new  house 
was  erected  for  him,  and  “ three  times  and  four  times  in  the  day  food  was 
brought  to  him,  irrespective  of  that  which  the  royal  children  gave  him 
unceasingly.”  Then  the  royal  artisans  and  architects  built  him  a tomb, 
“ a pyramid  of  stone  amongst  the  pyramids,”  which  was  furnished  with  all 
that  was  necessary.  Sinuhe  closes  his  story  as  follows  : “ Thus  my  life 
is  crowned  with  the  rewards  of  the  king,  till  the  day  shall  come  for  me 
to  go  hence.” 

It  stands  to  reason  that  for  the  educated  Egyptian  the  charm  of  the 
above  story  lay  rather  in  the  elegance  of  its  language  than  in  its  contents 
merely  ; the  long  letters  and  speeches,  which  continually  interrupt  the 
narrative,  and  in  which  one  thought  is  wearisomely  played  upon  and  spun 
out,  were  evidently  considered  the  chief  value  of  the  book. 

The  latter  remark  applies  still  more  to  another  contemporary  writing, 
the  history  of  a poor  man  of  the  marsh  and  of  Meruetense  the  estate 
superintendent.  In  this  story  romance  disappears.  The  donkey  of  the 
poor  man  has  been  unjustly  confiscated,  and  he  turns  for  help  to  the  rich 
official  ; long  endless  speeches  from  both  parties  follow ; they  all  probably 
relate  to  the  confiscated  donkey.  I say  probably,  for  it  is  difficult  to  see 
exactly  what  is  the  object  of  these  difficult,  incomprehensible,  bombastic 
phrases.  This  constituted,  however,  the  wit  of  this  bulky  book  ; it  was 
intended  to  show  what  beautiful  thoughts  and  what  fine  language  a clever 
man  could  weave  round  any  ordinary  subject.  The  rhetoric  which  here 
seems  launched  forth  with  such  ease  was  much  admired,  and  it  is  doubtless 
not  accidental  that  we  meet  with  it  continually  in  other  writings  also 
belonging  to  the  Middle  Empire.  The  reader  will  observe  it  for  instance 
in  the  quotations  from  the  tomb  inscriptions  of  this  epoch  given  above 
(see  p.  88),  but  this  rhetorical  style  is  chiefly  to  be  seen  in  the  didactic 
literature,1  to  the  consideration  of  which  we  shall  return  later.  One 
example  only  is  given  here  of  this  kind  of  artificial  writing,  which  I 
believe  I have  translated  with  tolerable  certainty,  though  as  a rule  this 
fine  style  renders  the  sense  quite  unintelligible  to  us.  “ A son  hears, 
it  is  splendid.  The  hearer  enters  (into  the  palace).  If  a hearer  hears, 
then  the  hearer  becomes  a good  servant,  good  in  hearing,  good  in  speak- 
ing. Each  one  who  hears  is  something  splendid.  It  is  splendid,  a hearer 
hears.  Hearing  is  better  than  all  things  that  exist  ; it  creates  beautiful 
love.  How  beautiful  it  is  when  a son  receives  what  his  father  says  ; that 
creates  for  him  a good  old  age  with  her  (i.e.  love).  He  who  loves  God, 
hears  ; he  who  hates  God  does  not  hear.  The  heart  causes  its  master 
to  hear  or  not  to  hear.”'  In  the  original  almost  every  sentence  in  this 
example  begins  with  the  same  word  with  which  the  preceding  one  ends. 

The  literature  of  every  country  has  to  pass  through  an  unnatural  stage 
of  this  kind,  but  finally  common  sense  always  gains  the  victory,  and  even 
the  Persians,  who  went  to  the  greatest  extremes  in  this  foolish  artificial 

1 This  defect  is  specially  observable  both  in  the  Pap.  Prisse  and  in  the  “ Instructions  of  King 
Amenemhe't.  2 Prisse,  1 6,  3-8. 


XV 


LITERATURE 


373 


style,  learned  after  the  time  of  Wassef,  to  express  their  thoughts  in  a 
comprehensible  form.  In  Egypt  also  a revulsion  of  thought  ensued, 
and  indeed  the  great  catastrophe  which  overtook  the  Middle  Empire 
seems  also  to  have  made  an  end  of  this  bad  literary  style.  Instead  of  the 
subtle  refinement  which  in  previous  times  had  predominated  in  light 
literature,  the  stories  became,  after  the  time  of  the  Hyksos,  quite  simple 
both  as  regards  their  contents  and  their  form.  Nothing  can  be  more 
homely  than  the  tales  of  the  New  Empire  with  their  monotonous  though 
popular  language  destitute  of  all  rhetoric  and  exaggeration. 

The  subject  of  the  most  ancient  of  these  stories,  which,  judging  from 
the  language,  seems  to  have  been  written  in  the  Hyksos’  time,  is  connected 
with  old  historical  incidents — incidents  that  had  lived  in  the  memory  of 
the  nation  because  the  pyramids,  the  greatest  monuments  in  the  country, 
served  ever  to  call  them  to  mind. 

This  papyrus,  which  was  lately  purchased  by  the  Berlin  Museum, 
relates  that  once  upon  a time  King  Chufu  ordered  his  sons — they  were 
all  first  reciter-priests  to  the  king — to  relate  tales  of  the  wonderful  deeds 
of  certain  great  magicians  at  the  court  of  his  predecessor. 1 One  had 
caused  a faithless  wrife  and  her  lover  to  be  seized  by  a small  crocodile  of 
wax  ; another  had  by  a magic  formula  fetched  up  from  the  depth  of  the 
water  a jewel  which  a lady  had  dropped  there,  etc.  Chufu  admired 
exceedingly  the  learning  of  these  ancient  wise  men,  and  at  the  end  of 
each  story  he  ordered  an  offering  to  be  made  to  the  hero  of  the  tale. 

When  it  came  to  the  turn  of  Prince  Hardadaf,  he  produced  no  story 
of  an  ancient  magician,  but  preferred  to  relate  to  his  father  a tale  of  a man 
still  living  in  his  own  time.  “ This  man  is  called  Ded’e  and  lives  in  Ded- 
Snefru.  He  is  a young  man  of  i io  years  and  eats  500  cakes  of  bread 
together  with  a joint  of  beef,  and  drinks  100  jugs  of  beer,  even  at  the 
present  day.  He  knows  how  to  set  on  a head  that  has  been  cut  off,  and  he 
can  cause  the  lions  of  the  desert  to  walk  behind  him.”  One  other  thing 
Ded’e  knew  which  would  be  sure  to  interest  King  Chufu.  He  knew  where 
certain  secret  things  out  of  the  house  of  the  god  Thoth  were  hidden, 
which  the  king  had  long  wished  to  use  for  his  horizon  (i.e.  either  for  his 
palace  or  for  his  pyramid). 

Chufu  immediately  sent  Hardadaf  to  fetch  the  wise  man  to  his  court  ; 
boats  were  equipped,  and  the  prince  went  up-stream  till  he  came  near 
Ded-Snefru.  There  he  landed,  and  was  carried  in  his  ebony  sedan-chair 
to  the  house  of  the  aged  learned  man,  whom  he  found  stretched  on  his 
couch.  After  a few  general  remarks  on  health  in  old  age,  the  prince  gave 
his  message  as  follows  : “ I have  come  from  afar  as  a messenger  from  my 
father  Chufu,  to  summon  thee  to  eat  of  the  excellent  food  that  he  gives, 
and  of  the  meats  of  his  attendants,  that  he  may  conduct  thee  by  a beautiful 
life  to  thy  fathers,  who  are  in  the  city  of  the  dead.”  Ded’e  declared  him- 
self ready  to  follow  the  summons  of  the  king,  and  “the  prince  Hardadaf 
gave  him  his  hand  and  raised  him  up.  Then  he  went  with  him  to  the 

1 .See  pp.  76,  90. 


374 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


bank  of  the  river,  whilst  he  gave  him  his  arm.”  Then  they  went  down- 
stream in  the  same  boats  ; the  learned  man  stipulated  however  (if  I 
rightly  understand)  for  a special  boat  for  the  transport  of  his  books. 
“ When  he  had  now  arrived  at  court,  Prince  Hardadaf  went  in  to  announce 
the  news  to  King  Chufu.  Prince  Hardadaf  said  : ‘ O king,  my  lord,  I have 
brought  Ded’e.’  The  king  answered : ‘ Run  and  bring  him  in.’  His  Majesty 
then  went  into  the  hall  of  the  palace,  and  Ded’e  was  led  in  to  him. 

“ His  Majesty  said  : 1 How  is  it,  Ded’e,  that  I never  see  thee  ? ’ Ded’e 
answered  : ‘ He  who  is  called,  comes  ; the  king  calls  and  behold  here  I 
am.’  The  king  said  : ‘Is  it  true  what  they  say,  that  thou  canst  set  on  a 
head  that  has  been  cut  off?’  Ded’e  answered:  ‘Yes  I can,  O king,  my 
lord.’  The  king  said  : ‘ Let  them  bring  in  a prisoner  from  the  prison 
. . . ' Ded’e  answered  : ‘ Not  so,  not  a man,  O king,  my  lord.  Behold, 
let  the  order  be  given  that  this  shall  be  carried  out  on  an  excellent 
animal.”  Then  they  brought  a goose  and  cut  off  its  head  ; the  goose 
was  then  laid  in  the  western  corner  of  the  hall,  and  the  head  in  the  eastern 
corner,  and  Ded’e  said  his  magic  formula.  Then  the  goose  stood  up  and 
tripped  along  and  the  head  did  likewise.  When  now  one  part  had  come 
to  the  other,  the  goose  stood  there  and  cackled.  They  then  brought  a 
duck  (?)  and  the  same  happened  to  it.  Then  the  king  caused  a bull  to 
be  brought  and  his  head  to  be  thrown  on  the  ground.  Ded’e  said  his 
incantation,  and  the  bull  stood  there  behind  him.”  . . . These  miracles 
convinced  the  king  that  he  might  really  trust  to  the  wisdom  of  Ded’e,  and 
he  now  asked  him  openly  about  the  subject  which  he  had  at  heart,  viz. 
as  to  the  hiding-place  of  certain  secret  things,  which  had  been  originally 
in  the  house  of  the  god  of  wisdom.  But  the  king  received  no  satisfactory 
answer  ; the  wise  man  acknowledged  indeed  that  he  knew  the  house  at 
Heliopolis,  in  which  they  were,  “ but,”  he  added,  “ I will  not  bring  them  to 
thee.”  “ Who  then  will  bring  them  to  me  ? ” asked  the  king,  and  the  wise 
man  answered  : “ The  oldest  of  the  three  children,  whom  Reddedt  will 
bear,  shall  bring  them  to  thee.”  When  Chufu  asked  in  amazement  who 
this  Reddedt  might  be,  Ded’e  explained  : “ She  is  the  wife  of  a priest  of 
the  god  Re‘,  in  the  town  Sachebu,1  who  is  now  pregnant  with  three 
children  by  Re‘  of  Sachebu.  He  has  told  her  that  they  will  exercise 
that  excellent  dignity  over  this  whole  country,  and  the  eldest  of  them 
shall  be  high  priest  of  Heliopolis.”  “ Then  was  his  Majesty  very  sad.” 
Well  might  he  be  so.  He  knew  well  what  the  wise  man  had  meant 
by  that  excellent  dignity.  What  Ded’e  had  prophesied  was  the  future 
birth  of  three  kings  of  a new  race.  All  the  Pharaohs  boasted  that  they 
were  descendants  of  the  sun-god,  who  had  now  begotten  himself  a new 
race,  and  had  rejected  the  old  one. 

What  Chufu  decided  to  do  to  turn  aside  this  threatened  disaster 
remains  uncertain.  Our  book  passes  on  to  the  climax,  the  birth  of  the 
three  sons  of  the  god.  When  the  hour  of  the  delivery  of  Reddedt  drew 
near,  Re‘  called  to  the  goddesses  Isis,  Nephthys,  Mesechent,  and  Heqt,  as 

1 The  reading  of  the  name  of  the  town  is  uncertain. 


XV 


LITERA  TURK 


375 


well  as  to  the  god  Chnum,  and  said  : “ Come,  hasten  and  deliver  Reddedt 
of  her  three  children,  who  shall  at  a future  time  exercise  that  most 
excellent  dignity  over  this  whole  country.  They  shall  build  your  temples, 
care  for  your  altars,  increase  your  drink-offerings,  and  cause  your  temple 
revenues  to  be  great.”  The  divinities  followed  his  bidding,  and  repaired 
in  human  form  to  the  house  of  the  woman,  where  they  presented  themselves 
to  the  anxious  earthly  husband  the  priest  Ra'uoser,  as  experienced  women, 
who  “understood  how  to  deliver.”  He  admitted  them  into  the  house, 
they  closed  the  door  behind  them  and  began  their  work.  They  brought 
three  children  into  the  world,  each  measured  a cubit  and  had  powerful 
bones  ; Isis  gave  a name  to  each,  and  Mesechent  prophesied  of  each,  that 
“ he  would  become  a king  over  this  whole  country.”  This  prophecy 
was  fulfilled  later,  in  fact  the  three  children  became,  as  we  know  by  their 
names,  the  first  three  kings  of  the  5th  dynasty. 

When  the  goddesses  left  the  house  and  announced  to  the  husband  of 
Reddedt  the  birth  of  the  triplet,  he  was  full  of  gratitude  and  presented 
them  with  some  corn,  which  they  gladly  accepted.  Chnum,  who  played 
the  part  of  their  servant,  had  to  lade  himself  with  it.  “ When  they  were 
now  returned  to  the  place  whence  they  had  come,  Isis  spoke  to  those 
divinities  : ‘ How  is  it  that  we  have  come  away  without  working  a miracle 
for  those  children,  a miracle  to  announce  to  their  father  who  sent  us 
thither  ? ’ ” After  much  consideration  they  formed  diadems  and  laid  them 
in  the  corn  that  they  had  received  as  a reward  ; they  then  raised  a storm, 
which  carried  this  grain  back  into  the  house  of  Reddedt.  When  now, 
after  a fortnight,  Reddedt  began  again  to  see  after  her  household  affairs, 
she  learnt  to  her  astonishment  from  her  maid  that  the  corn  which  had 
been  given  away  was  still  there.  She  sent  the  girl  to  fetch  some  of  it, 
but  the  girl  returned  frightened,  for  as  soon  as  she  had  opened  the  house 
in  which  the  corn  lay,  she  had  “ heard  the  sound  of  song,  music,  and 
dancing,  as  if  to  do  honour  to  a king.” 

This  miracle,  by  which  the  new-born  children  were  greeted  as  kings, 
brought  them  into  much  danger,  for  on  one  occasion,  when  the  servant 
girl  was  punished  by  Reddedt,  she  said  to  the  people  : “ Ought  she  to 
do  that  to  me,  she  who  has  borne  three  kings  ? I shall  go  and  tell  it  to 
King  Chufu.”  And  in  fact  she  set  off  to  travel  to  court. 

What  King  Chufu  said  to  her  message  ; what  he  attempted  against  the 
children  ; how  the  latter  escaped  his  persecution,  until  at  last,  when  they 
reached  man’s  estate,  they  thrust  his  race  from  the  throne— all  this  we 
must  imagine  for  ourselves,  for  unfortunately  the  end  as  well  as  the 
beginning  of  the  papyrus  is  missing. 

When  this  tale  was  written,  a thousand  years  and  more  had  passed 
away  and  yet  the  disputes  about  the  throne  under  the  Old  Empire  which 
form  the  foundation  of  the  story  were  not  forgotten.  Sometimes,  however, 
legend  grafted  her  wonderful  leaves  and  blossoms  on  incidents  which  were 
not  so  long  past.  We  have  a story  written  about  the  close  of  the  19th 
dynasty  which,  in  the  form  of  a romance,  describes  the  beginning  of  the 


376 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Hyksos  wars  ; and  to  about  the  saime  date  belongs  the  account  of  the 
taking  of  the  town  of  Joppa  by  Thothmes  III.  The  latter  incident  had 
occurred  scarcely  200  years  before,  and  yet,  amongst  other  things,  they 
related  of  one  of  the  generals  of  the  king  how  he  had  packed  up  600 
soldiers  in  sacks  or  baskets  and  by  a stratagem  had  them  carried  into 
Joppa  by  600  of  their  fellows.  Historical  romances  of  this  kind  seem  to 
have  been  very  common  in  ancient  times,  for  the  Greek  tales  that  have 
come  down  to  us  concerning  the  older  Egyptian  history  seem  to  have 
been  taken  from  similar  writings. 

Besides  these  stories  founded  on  history,  there  were  others,  the  scenes 
of  which  took  place  in  the  happy  period  of  “ once  upon  a time.”  We 
will  take  as  an  instance  the  following  pretty  tale,1  the  motive  of  which  is 
common  to  the  whole  world. 

“ There  was  once  a king,  who  had  no  son.  He  therefore  prayed  the 
gods  to  give  him  a son,  and  they  ordered  that  a son  should  be  born  to 
him.  He  slept  at  night  with  his  wife  and  she  became  pregnant.  When 
her  months  were  accomplished,  behold  she  bore  a son.  When  now  the 
Hathors  came  to  decide  upon  his  fortune,  they  said  : ‘ He  shall  die  by  a 
crocodile,  a snake,  or  a dog.’  The  people  who  were  with  the  children 
heard  these  words.  They  related  them  to  His  Majesty.  Then  was  His 
Majesty  very  very  sad.  Then  His  Majesty  caused  a castle  to  be  built  in 
the  mountains  ; this  castle  was  provided  with  servants  and  with  all  good 
things  from  the  palace,  and  the  child  was  never  allowed  to  go  out  of 
the  castle. 

“ Now  when  the  child  had  grown  tall,  he  went  up  on  the  roof  and  saw 
a greyhound  running  after  a man,  who  was  walking  along  the  road.  He 
said  to  the  servant  who  was  with  him  : ‘ What  is  that  following  the  man, 
who  is  walking  along  the  road?’  He  answered  him:  ‘That  is  a grey- 
hound ! ’ The  child  said  to  him  : ‘ Let  them  bring  me  one.’  Then  the 
servant  went  and  told  the  king.  The  king  then  said  : ‘ Let  them  take 
him  a pup,"  that  his  heart  may  not  grieve  about  it.’  Then  they  brought 
him  the  greyhound. 

“ Now  after  many  days  were  gone,  the  child  waxed  great  in  all  his 
members,  and  sent  to  his  father  to  say  : ‘ Why  should  I remain  here  ? 
Behold  I am  predestined  to  the  three  fates,  and  whether  I do  according  to 
my  will  or  not,  God  will  do  as  He  wills.’  Then  they  gave  him  weapons 
of  all  kinds  . . . they  brought  him  to  the  eastern  frontier  and  said  to  him  : 
‘ Go  then  according  to  thy  wish.’  His  dog  was  with  him,  and  he  travelled 
according  to  his  heart’s  desire  in  the  mountains,  and  lived  on  the  best 
mountain  game.  Then  he  came  to  the  prince  of  Naharanna.  The  prince 
of  Naharanna  had  an  only  child,  a daughter.  He  had  built  a house  for 
her  with  a window  more  than  seventy  cubits  from  the  ground.  He  ordered 
all  the  children  of  all  the  princes  of  Charu  to  be  brought  before  him,  and 
said  to  them  : ‘ Whoever  shall  climb  to  the  window  of  my  daughter,  shall 
have  her  for  wife.’ 

1 Cp.  Records  of  the  Past,  vol.  ii.  p.  153.  2 In  the  text  a special  breed  is  spoken  of. 


XV 


LITER  A TURE 


377 


“ Now  after  many  days  had  passed,  and  the  princes  were  making  their 
daily  attempt,  the  youth  came  past.  Then  they  brought  the  youth  to  their 
house,  they  washed  him  and  gave  his  horse  food.  They  did  all  manner  of 
good  to  the  youth,  they  anointed  him,  they  bound  up  his  feet,  and  gave  him 
of  their  own  bread.  They  then  talked  to  him  and  said  : ‘ Whence  comest 
thou,  thou  beautiful  youth  ? ’ He  answered  them  : ‘ I am  the  son  of  an 
Egyptian  officer,  my  mother  died,  and  my  father  took  to  himself  another 
wife.  . . . Thereupon  she  hated  me,  and  I ran  away  and  fled  before  her  ! ’ 
Then  they  embraced  him  and  kissed  him.” 

The  prince  then  learnt  from  his  hosts,  what  had  brought  them  hither, 
and  naturally  he  also  became  desirous  to  win  the  king’s  daughter.  “ Then 
they  went  to  climb,  as  was  their  daily  endeavour,  and  the  lad  stood  afar 
from  them  and  watched,  and  the  eyes  of  the  daughter  of  the  prince  of 
Naharanna  rested  upon  him. 

“ Now  after  some  time  had  passed,  the  youth  went  to  climb  with  the 
children  of  the  princes.  He  climbed  and  reached  the  window  of  the 
daughter  of  the  prince  of  Naharanna.  She  kissed  him  and  embraced  him 
in  all  his  limbs.  Then  they  went  to  rejoice  the  heart  of  her  father,  and 
said  to  him  : ‘ A man  has  reached  the  window  of  thy  daughter.’  The 
prince  then  asked  : ‘ The  son  of  which  prince  is  it  ? ’ and  they  answered 
him  : ‘It  is  the  son  of  an  officer,  who  has  fled  from  his  stepmother  in 
Egypt.’  Then  the  prince  of  Naharanna  was  exceeding  angry.  Then 
he  said  : ‘ I give  my  daughter  to  no  Egyptian  fugitive  ; he  may  return  to 
his  house  again,’  and  they  went  and  told  him  : ‘ Go  back  again  to  the 
place  whence  thou  hast  come.’  But  the  daughter  seized  him  and  swore  : 

‘ By  Re‘-Harmachis,  if  they  take  him  from  me,  I will  neither  eat  nor  drink 
until  I die.’  Then  the  messenger  went  and  told  her  father  what  she  had 
said.  The  prince  sent  people  to  kill  him  whilst  he  was  in  his  house. 
But  the  daughter  said  : ‘ By  Re‘,  (if  they  kill)  him,  then  I (also)  shall  be 
dead  by  sunset — I will  not  live  an  hour  without  him.’  . . . Then  the 
messenger  told  this  to  her  father.” 

The  father  could  not  understand  such  love,  and  he  gave  his  daughter 
to  the  youth.  “ He  embraced  him  and  kissed  him  in  all  his  limbs,  and 
said  to  him  : ‘ Tell  me  then  who  thou  art ; behold,  art  thou  not  now  my 
son  ? ’ He  answered  him  : ‘ I am  the  son  of  an  Egyptian  officer,  my  mother 
died,  my  father  took  to  himself  another  wife,  thereupon  she  hated  me,  and  I 
fled  before  her.’  Then  he  gave  him  his  daughter  to  wife,  and  gave  him 
(servants)  and  fields  together  with  cattle  and  all  good  things. 

“ Now  after  some  time  the  youth  spake  thus  to  his  wife : ‘ I am 
predestined  to  three  fates,  to  the  crocodile,  the  snake,  and  the  dog.’ 
Then  she  said,  ‘ Let  then  thy  dog,  who  runs  before  thee,  be  killed  ’ ; he 
answered  : ‘ I will  not  allow  my  dog,  whom  I have  brought  up  from  a pup, 
to  be  killed.’  Then  she  feared  much  for  her  husband,  and  would  never 
let  him  go  out  alone.” 

Thus  far  the  tale  goes.  From  the  mutilated  pages  of  handwriting  that 
follow  we  next  gather  that,  thanks  to  the  watchfulness  of  his  wife,  the 


378 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


prince  escapes  from  the  danger  which  threatens  him  through  the  snake 
and  the  crocodile.  It  is  probable  that  his  faithful  dog  afterwards  involun- 
tarily takes  his  life,  and  thus  his  fate  is  fulfilled. 

Each  of  the  above  tales  springs  throughout  from  the  same  source  ; a 
definite  scheme  is  followed  consistently  in  each.  At  the  same  time  there 
were  other  tales  in  which  various  old  legends  were  mixed  together,  and 
which  are  therefore  destitute  of  any  consecutive  cohesiveness,  a quality 
common  to  the  folklore  of  all  nations,  and  especially  to  that  of  modern 
Egypt.  The  following  confused  though  pretty  tale  of  the  I gth  dynasty 
gives  an  excellent  example  of  a story  of  this  description. 

“ Once  upon  a time  there  were  two  brothers,  born  of  one  mother  and 
of  one  father  ; the  elder  was  called  Anup,  the  younger  Bata.  Now  Anup 
possessed  a house  and  had  a wife,  whilst  his  younger  brother  lived  with 
him  as  a son.  He  it  was  who  weaved  (?)  for  him,  and  drove  his  cattle  to 
the  fields,  who  ploughed  and  reaped  ; he  it  was  who  directed  all  the  business 
of  the  farm  for  him.  The  younger  brother  was  a good  (farmer),  the  like 
of  whom  was  not  to  be  found  throughout  the  country.”  The  affectionate 
relationship  between  the  two  brothers  was  disturbed,  however,  by  the  fault 
of  the  wife.  One  day  when  Bata  came  back  from  the  field,  where  he  had 
been  ploughing  with  Anup,  to  the  house  to  fetch  some  seed  for  sowing, 
the  desires  of  his  sister-in-law  awoke  in  her,  and  she  sought  to  seduce  him. 
But  he  thrust  her  away  angrily,  and  hastened  back  to  his  cattle  in  the 
field,  but  he  told  Anup  nothing  of  what  had  occurred.  This  forbearance 
was  his  ruin.  “ Now  when  evening  was  come,  the  elder  brother  returned 
to  the  house,  and  the  younger  brother  went  along  behind  his  cattle.  He 
had  laded  himself  with  all  the  herbs  of  the  fields,  and  drove  his  cattle 
before  him,  to  bring  them  to  the  cattle-pen.  Then  the  wife  of  the  elder 
brother  feared  because  of  what  she  had  said.  She  therefore  pretended 
that  she  had  been  ill-treated  with  violence,  in  order  to  say  to  her  husband  : 
‘ Thy  younger  brother  has  ill-treated  me.’  In  the  evening  her  husband 
came  back  as  he  did  every  day  ; he  reached  his  house,  there  he  found  his 
wife  lying,  ill  through  violence.  She  did  not  pour  water  over  his  hands 
as  was  her  custom,  she  had  not  lighted  the  lights  for  him,  his  house  was 
in  darkness,  and  she  lay  there  ill.  Her  husband  said  to  her:  ‘Who  has 
spoken  with  thee?’  Then  she  answered  him  : ‘Nobody  has  spoken  with 
me  except  thy  younger  brother.’ 

“ Then  the  elder  brother  became  raging  like  a panther  ; he  sharpened 
his  knife,  and  took  it  in  his  hand.  And  the  elder  brother  stood  behind 
the  door  of  his  cattle-shed,  in  order  to  kill  the  younger,  when  he  came  back 
in  the  evening  to  bring  the  cattle  into  the  shed. 

“ Now  when  the  sun  was  setting  and  he  had  laden  himself  with  all  the 
herbs  of  the  field  as  was  his  custom,  then  he  came.  His  first  cow  entered 
the  cattle-shed  and  said  to  her  herdsman  : ‘ Beware,  there  stands  thy  elder 
brother  before  thee  with  his  knife,  in  order  to  kill  thee  ; run  away  from 
him.’  Then  he  heard  what  the  first  cow  had  said.  The  second  entered 
and  said  likewise.  He  looked  under  the  door  of  the  cattle-shed,  he  caught 


XV 


LI  TER  A TURE 


379 


sight  of  the  feet  of  his  brother,  who  was  standing  behind  the  door  with 
his  knife  in  his  hand.  He  threw  his  burden  on  the  ground  and  began  to 
run  away  quickly.  His  elder  brother  ran  after  him  with  his  knife  in  his 
hand.”  Thus  Anup  followed  him  in  a rage,  but  Re‘  caused  a stream  of 
water  to  come  between  them,  and  thus  placed  the  poor  Bata  in  a safe 
place  from  his  pursuer.  Throughout  the  night  they  stood  on  either  side 
of  the  water  ; in  the  morning  however  Bata  expostulated  with  his  brother 
and  swore  to  him  before  the  sun-god,  that  he  was  innocent,  and  reproached 
him  that  he  could  so  easily  doubt  his  sincerity.  “ And,”  he  added,  “ now  go 
home  and  see  after  thy  cattle  thyself,  for  I will  no  longer  stay  with  thee. 
I shall  go  to  the  acacia  valley.  This  is  however  what  shall  happen  to 
me : I shall  take  my  heart  and  put  it  on  the  flower  of  the  acacia.  And 
when  they  give  thee  a jug  of  beer  and  it  froths — that  shall  be  a sign  to 
thee,  then  come  and  seek  the  heart.”  Then  Anup  went  back  and  killed 
his  wife  and  sat  there  in  sadness  ; Bata  however  went  to  the  acacia 
valley. 

Thus  we  see  the  story  begins  in  a simple  and  purely  human  manner, 
but  afterwards  a motive  breaks  in,  the  connection  of  which  it  is  difficult  to 
understand.  Bata  is  metamorphosed  from  the  pious  young  herdsman  into 
a hero,  whose  life  is  bound  up  in  a mystical  manner  with  the  flower  of  a 
tree.  He  lives  under  the  tree,  the  gods  hold  intercourse  with  him,  they 
present  him  with  a wife  that  he  may  not  be  alone.  But  this  divine  maiden 
becomes  his  misfortune.  The  king  of  Egypt,  to  whom  the  sea  has  carried 
a lock  of  her  hair,  sends  his  messengers  to  her,  and  she  allows  herself  to  be 
carried  off.  She  betrays  to  the  king  the  secret  on  which  the  life  of  her 
husband  depends  ; the  acacia  is  felled  and  Bata  sinks  to  the  ground  dead. 
Now  there  happens  what  Bata  had  foretold.  Anup  at  home  recognises,  by 
the  frothing  of  the  beer  in  his  jug,  that  something  has  happened  to  his  brother; 
he  goes  to  the  acacia  valley  and  finds  his  body.  Then  for  seven  long 
years  he  seeks  his  heart  ; when  at  last  he  finds  it,  Bata  awakes  from  the 
dead.  But  he  is  immediately  transformed  into  a sacred  bull,  which  Anup 
has  to  lead  to  the  king.  When  this  bull  approaches  the  queen,  he  causes 
her  to  recognise  him  as  her  husband.  She  causes  him  to  be  slaughtered, 
but  from  his  blood  there  spring  two  sycamores  ; she  causes  these  to  be 
cut  down,  but  a splinter  of  the  wood  enters  her  mouth.  Then  she  bears  a 
son,  whom  the  king  acknowledges  as  his  heir.  The  boy,  however,  is  Bata 
himself,  who  when  he  has  grown  up  causes  the  queen  to  be  killed  and 
reigns  as  king  with  his  brother. 

Thus  the  tale  closes  ; but  by  the  boldest  interpretation  we  can  scarcely 
discover  any  internal  connection  between  the  individual  parts.  Apparently 
they  are  fragments  of  different  legends,  which  have  been  welded  to  a 
whole  in  the  mind  of  the  narrator  ; one  small  feature  can  even  now  be 
identified  with  certainty  as  a reminiscence  of  the  Osiris  myth.1 

1 he  simplicity  of  the  style,  which  distinguishes  these  stories  of  the 
New  Empire  from  those  of  the  Middle  Empire,  is  also  a characteristic  of 

1 D'Orbiney,  7,  9. 


380 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


the  later  literature  ; evidently  fashion  had  reverted  to  a great  extent  to 
the  truth  of  nature.  Yet  we  must  not  imagine  this  rebound  to  have  been 
of  a very  deep  nature,  the  books  of  the  Middle  Empire  were  always 
considered  by  scholars  to  be  patterns  of  classical  grace,1  and  in  the  official 
texts  they  imitated  their  heavy  style  and  antique  phraseology  without 
producing,  according  to  our  opinion,  anything  very  pleasing.  A story  like 
the  above,  simply  related  in  the  conversational  manner  of  the  New  Empire, 
appeals  to  us  far  more  than  the  elegant  works  of  the  learned  litterateurs, 
who  even  when  they  made  use  of  the  spoken  language,  always  believed 
themselves  obliged  to  interlard  it  with  scraps  from  a past  age. 

The  interesting  book  which  is  preserved  to  us  intact  in  the  first 
Anastasi  papyrus  gives  us  a wonderful  glimpse  into  the  taste  and  life  of 
the  literary  circle  under  the  New  Empire.  It  consists  of  the  epistles  sent 
by  the  scribe  N.  N.  (the  name  is  destroyed)  the  son  of  Nennofre,  hold- 
ing an  appointment  in  one  of  the  royal  stables,  to  “his  friend  Nechtsotep, 
the  royal  scribe  of  the  commands  for  the  army.”  2 These  letters  were  not 
intended  to  convey  news,  but  merely  to  show  off  the  writer’s  fine  wit  and 
graceful  style  in  a literary  dispute.  The  author  is  supposed  to  be  a learned 
man  and  a wit  ; he  calls  himself  a “ proficient  in  the  sacred  writings,  who  is 
not  ignorant  ; one  who  is  brave  and  powerful  in  the  work  of  the  (goddess  of 
wisdom)  Sefchet  ; a servant  of  the  lord  of  Chmunu  (the  god  Thoth)  in  the 
house  of  the  books.”  He  is  “ teacher  in  the  hall  of  the  books,”  and  is  “ a 
prince  to  his  disciples”  (i.e.  his  pupils).3  His  opponent  Nechtsotep  has 
little  to  boast  of  in  comparison  with  such  advantages  ; he  is  indeed  “ of  a 
wonderful  good  heart  . . . has  not  his  equal  amongst  all  the  scribes,  wins 
the  love  of  every  one  ; handsome  to  behold,  in  all  things  he  is  experienced 
as  a scribe,  his  counsel  is  asked  in  order  to  know  what  is  most  excellent,”  4 
but  with  all  these  good  qualities,  he  lacks  that  eloquence  in  which  the 
author  so  greatly  excels.  The  latter  is  able  indeed  to  boast  that  “ what- 
ever comes  out  of  his  mouth  is  dipped  in  honey.”  5 This  superiority  of 
his  own  style  over  that  of  Nechtsotep  forms  the  chief  subject  of  the  book. 

“Thy  letter  reached  me,”  writes  the  author  to  Nechtsotep,  “just  as  I 
had  mounted  the  horse  that  belongs  to  me,  and  I rejoiced  and  was  glad 
over  it.”  His  pleasure  however  was  not  of  long  duration,  for  on  examining 
it  more  closely,  he  says  : “ I found  it  was  neither  praise-  nor  blameworthy. 
Thy  sentences  confuse  one  thing  with  another,  all  thy  words  are  wrong, 
they  do  not  express  thy  meaning. 6 It  is  a letter  laden  with  many  periods 
and  long  words. 7 What  thy  tongue  says  is  very  weak,  thy  words  are  very 
confused  ; thou  comest  to  me  involved  in  confusion  and  burdened  with 
faults.”  8 

It  seems  that  the  author  now  intends  to  contrast  this  circumstantial 
misshapen  letter  with  his  answer  ; he  wishes  to  show  how  Nechtsotep  ought 
to  have  written,  and  for  this  purpose  he  repeats  to  him  a part  of  his  letter 

1 We  gather  this  from  the  many  excerpts  found  in  the  school  copy-books  of  the  N.E. 

2 An.,  I,  2,  3.  3 lb. , I,  1-3.  4 lb.,  2,  3 ff.  5 lb.,  1,  7. 

0 lb.,  4,  6 ff.  7 lb.,  18,  3.  8 lb.,  28,  2,  f. 


XV 


LITERA  TURE 


jSi 


in  more  elegant  form.1  He  manages  of  course  to  take  his  choice  out  of 
the  many  rolls  2 Nechtsotep  had  sent,  so  as  to  be  able  at  the  same  time 
to  direct  all  manner  of  little  sarcasms  at  his  opponent.  The  latter  had 
boasted  of  his  warlike  deeds,  and  described  with  pride  his  expeditions 
through  Syria  ; in  the  author’s  repetition  these  deeds  are  also  related,  but 
as  a rule  rather  ironically. 

Before  the  author  touches  upon  this  subject  which  forms  the  main  part 
of  his  book,  he  considers  it  necessary  to  defend  himself  from  two  personal 
attacks,  which  his  friend  had  ventured  to  make  against  him.  He  had 
reproached  him  that  he  was  a bad  official,  “ with  broken  arm,  and  power- 
less.” The  answer  to  this  is  : “I  know  many  people  who  are  poiverless  and 
whose  arm  is  broken,  miserable  people  with  no  backbone.  And  yet  they 
are  rich  in  houses,  food,  and  provision.  No  one  can  thus  reproach  me.”  3 
Then  he  cites  to  him  examples  of  lazy  officials,  who  nevertheless  have 
made  a career,  and  as  it  appears  are  the  good  friends  of  his  antagonist : 
he  gives  their  names  in  full  as  proof.  The  other  attack  is  easier  to  parry  ; 
Nechtsotep  had  reproached  him  with  being  neither  a scribe  nor  an  officer, 
his  name  not  being  recorded  in  the  list.  “ Let  the  books  but  be  shown  to 
thee,”  the  author  answers  him,  “ thou  wilt  then  find  my  name  on  the  list, 
entered  in  the  great  stable  of  King  Ramses  II.  Make  inquiries  only 
from  the  chief  of  the  stable  ; there  are  incomings  that  are  entered  to  my 
name.  I am  indeed  registered,  I am  indeed  a scribe.”  4 

The  author  then  begins  the  promised  recapitulation  of  the  deeds  of 
Nechtsotep,  the  deeds  of  “ that  most  excellent  scribe,  with  an  under- 
standing heart,  who  knows  everything,  who  is  a lamp  in  the  darkness  before 
the  soldiers  and  enlightens  them.”5  He  reminds  him  how  well  he  had 
transported  the  great  monuments  for  the  king, 6 and  had  quarried  an 
obelisk  120  cubits  long  at  Syene,'  and  how  afterwards  he  had  marched 
to  the  quarries  of  Hammamat  with  4000  soldiers  that  he  might  there 
“destroy  that  rebel.”"  Now  however  he  is  striding  through  Syria  as  a 
mahar,  as  a hero,  a maryna,  a nobleman  styling  himself  with  pleasure  by 
these  foreign  titles.9  The  author  has  here  come  to  the  subject  which 
affords  him  the  best  opportunity  for  his  raillery. 

In  thought  he  accompanies  his  opponent  through  all  the  stages  of  his 
journey  : “ I am  a scribe  and  a mahar,  so  thou  dost  say  repeatedly.  Now 
then,  what  thou  sayest  is  true.  Come  along.  Thou  dost  see  after  thy 

team,  thy  horses  are  as  swift  as  jackals  ; when  they  are  let  go  they  are 

like  the  wind  of  the  storm.  Thou  dost  seize  the  reins,  thou  takest  the 
bow — we  will  now  see  what  thy  hand  can  do.  I will  describe  to  you 
how  it  fares  with  a mahar,  I will  relate  to  you  what  he  does. 

“ Dost  thou  not  come  to  the  Cheta  country,  and  dost  thou  not  see  the 
’Eupa  country  ? Knowest  thou  not  the  shape  of  Chaduma  ? and  Ygad'ay 
also  ; how  is  it  formed  ? The  D'ar  of  King  Sesetsu — on  which  side  of 
him  lies  the  town  of  Charbu  ? and  how  is  his  ford  constituted  ? 

1 An.,  7,  4 ff.  2 lb.,  7,  8.  3 lb.,  g,  3 flf.  4 lb.,  11,  8 ft.  5 lb.,  17,  2 ff.  6 lb  , 14,  1 ff. 

7 lb.,  15,  3.  8 lb.,  17,  3.  9 Mahar:  lb.,  18,  4;  maryna:  lb. , 23,  2 ; 2S,  1. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


82 


“ Dost  thou  not  march  to  Kadesh  and  Tubache  ? Dost  thou  not  come 
to  the  Beduins  with  mercenaries  and  soldiers  ? Dost  thou  not  tread  the 
road  to  the  Magar  ? where  the  sky  is  dark  in  the  daytime,  for  the  country 
is  overgrown  with  oaks  and  acacias  (?)  which  reach  to  the  sky,  where  the 
lions  are  more  numerous  than  the  jackals  and  hyenas,  and  where  the 
Beduins  surround  the  road. 

“ Dost  thou  not  ascend  the  mountain  Shaua  ? . . . When  thou 
returnest  at  night,  all  thy  limbs  are  bruised  and  thy  bones  are  worn  out, 
and  thou  dost  fall  asleep.  When  thou  dost  awaken,  it  is  the  time  of  gloomy 
night  and  thou  art  quite  alone.  Has  not  a thief  come  to  rob  thee? 
. . . The  thief  has  made  off  in  the  night,  and  has  stolen  thy  clothes. 
Thy  groom  awaked  in  the  night,  saw  what  had  happened,  and  took  away 
with  him  what  was  left.  He  then  went  off  to  some  bad  fellows,  joined 
the  tribes  of  the  Beduins,  and  transformed  himself  into  an  Asiatic.  . . . 

“ I will  relate  to  you  of  another  mysterious  town,  called  Kepuna.  How 
is  it  with  her  ? her  goddess — another  time.  Hast  thou  not  come  across 
her  ? 

1 call  : Come  to  Barut’e  (Beyruth),  to  D'i(du)na  (Sidon)  and  D'arput’e 
(Sarepta),  where  is  the  ford  of  Nat'ana?  How  is  it  with  ’Eutu  ? They 
are  situate  above  another  town  on  the  sea,  D'ar  (Tyre)  of  the  coast  is 
her  name  ; water  is  brought  to  her  by  ship,  she  is  richer  in  fish  than  in 
sand.  . . . Whence  leads  the  road  from  ‘Aksapu  ? to  which  town  ? 

“ I call  : Come  to  the  mountain  User.  How  is  its  summit  ? Where  is 
the  mountain  Kama  ? Who  will  take  it  ? the  mahar. 

“ How  does  he  march  towards  Hud'aru  ? where  is  the  ford  ? Show 
me  how  one  goes  to  Hamat’e  (Hamat),  to  Degar  and  Degar-’ear,  to  the 
place  where  the  mahar  betakes  himself.”1 

It  goes  on  in  this  same  tone  ; a wearisome  series  of  empty  rhetorical 
questions  and  a confused  accumulation  of  barbarous-sounding  names,  with 
here  and  there  a little  description  of  the  sufferings  of  a traveller,  which 
though  only  moderately  clever,  seems  to  the  reader  like  an  oasis  in  the 
surrounding  desert.  Thus  after  the  usual  question  as  to  where  the  ford 
of  the  Jordan  may  be,  where  Megiddo  is  situate,  and  whether  there  could 
exist  anywhere  else  such  a brave  mahar , suddenly  the  letter  continues  : 
“ Beware  of  the  gorge  with  the  precipice  two  thousand  cubits  deep,  which 
is  full  of  rocks  and  boulders.  Thou  dost  make  a detour.  Thou  dost 
seize  thy  bow  . . . and  showest  thyself  to  the  good  princes  (i.e.  to 
the  allies  of  Egypt),  thus  their  eye  is  wearied  at  thy  hand.  ‘ Ebata 

kama  ’ ear  mahar  n'am  u'  they  say,  so  dost  thou  win  to  thyself  the  name 
of  a mahar , and  of  one  of  the  best  officers  of  Egypt.  Thy  name  becomes 
as  famous  to  them  as  the  name  of  Oad'ardey,  the  prince  of  ‘Esaru,  when 
the  hyenas  found  him  in  the  thicket,  in  the  defile  which  was  shut  in  by 
the  Beduins  : they  were  hidden  under  the  bushes,  and  many  of  them 
measured  4 cubits  from  the  nose  to  the  heel,  they  had  wild  eyes,  their 
hearts  were  unfriendly,  and  they  would  listen  to  no  flattering  words. 

1 An.,  18,  4-21,  8,  with  a few  excerpts. 


XV 


LI  TER  A TURE 


3«3 


“ Thou  art  alone,  no  spy  is  near  thee,  no  army  follows  thee,  and  thou 
canst  find  no  one  to  show  thee  the  right  way.  Thou  must  go  alone  and 
thou  knowest  not  the  way.  P'ear  then  seizes  thee,  thy  hair  stands  on  end, 
and  thy  heart  is  in  thy  mouth.  Thy  road  is  full  of  rocks  and  boulders, 
thou  canst  not  get  along  because  of  the  ’ 'eshbururu  and  qad'a  plants, 
because  of  the  naha  plants  and  the  wolf’s-bane.  On  one  side  of  thee  is 
the  precipice,  on  the  other  the  side  of  the  mountain,  thus  thou  goest  up 
the  hill.”  1 

The  end  of  this  difficult  journey  is  that  the  horses  take  fright,  and 
break  their  traces,  the  poor  viahar  has  to  go  on  foot  in  the  heat  of  the 
sun,  suffering  from  thirst  and  from  fear  of  enemies  in  ambush.  Misfortune 
follows  him  all  along  the  way.  “When  thou  enterest  Joppa,”  the  author 
relates  mockingly,  “ thou  dost  find  a garden  green  as  the  spring.  Thou 
dost  enter  in  order  to  get  food,  and  findest  there  the  lovely  maiden  who 
takes  care  of  the  vines  ; she  becomes  thy  companion,  and  charms  thee  with 
her  beauty.”  2 A thief  naturally  makes  the  best  of  this  hour  of  romance  to 
cut  loose  the  horses  from  the  viahar s carriage,  and  to  steal  his  weapons. 

We  see  that,  in  the  principal  part  of  the  book,  the  attack  of  the 
author  on  Nechtsotep  merely  consists  in  harmless  teasing,  and  as  a proof 
that  he  really  does  not  mean  to  wound,  he  adds  the  following  gracious 
conclusion  to  his  epistle  : “ Regard  this  in  a friendly  manner,  that  thou 
mayest  not  say  that  I have  made  thy  name  to  stink  with  other  people. 
Behold  I have  only  described  to  thee  how  it  befalls  a viahar ; I have 
traversed  Syria  for  thee,  I have  described  to  thee  the  countries  and  the 
towns  with  their  customs.  Be  gracious  to  us  and  regard  it  in  peace.”  3 

Thus  our  book  closes.  The  kindest  critic  will  scarcely  maintain  that 
it  is  distinguished  by  much  wit,  and  still  less  will  he  be  inclined  to  praise 
it  for  the  virtues  of  clear  description  and  elegant  style.  Yet  in  Egypt 
it  enjoyed  great  repute,  and  was  much  used  in  the  schools,4  and  as  it  had 
no  moral  nor  didactic  purpose,  this  wide  circulation  must  have  been  due  to 
its  intellectual  style.  What  seems  so  prosy  to  us,  appeared  to  the  educated 
literary  Egyptian  of  the  time  of  the  New  Empire  charming  and  worthy 
of  imitation,  “ dipped  in  honey,”  to  retain  the  strong  expression  of  our 
author. 

The  school-books  proper  are  easily  recognisable  by  their  title  shot, 
teaching  or  lesson  books.  They  are  necessarily  dominated  by  a striving 
after  a certain  style.  The  older  books,  all  of  which  seem  to  date  from  the 
Middle  Empire,  are  intended  not  only  to  teach  wise  living  and  good 
manners,  but  also  to  warn  from  a frivolous  life  ; the  instructions  they  con- 
tain are  always  couched  in  the  following  form:  some  ancient  sage  of  former 
days — the  great  king  Amenemhe't  I.,  or  a learned  governor  of  the  Old 
Empire,  imparts  to  his  son  as  he  is  growing  up  the  wisdom  which  has  led 
him  so  happily  through  life.  Even  in  their  outward  form  these  maxims 

1 An.,  23,  3-24,  4.  2 lb.,  25,  2 ff.  3 lb.,  28,  7. 

4 The  whole  is  preserved  in  An.,  i.  ; Extracts  : Tur.,  62,  and  the  Caillaud  ostrakon  (in  Chabas’ 

Voyage). 


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CHAP. 


show  that  they  emanate  from  a man  who  does  not  care  for  idle  chatter  ; 
they  either  approach  the  impossible  in  laconic  expression,  or  they  conceal 
thoughts  under  a multitude  of  illustrations,  or  again  they  are  remark- 
able for  the  artificial  composition  of  the  sentences.  An  example  of  this 
obscure  language,  which  as  a rule  is  quite  incomprehensible  to  us,  has 
already  been  given  in  the  earlier  part  of  this  chapter.1 

There  exist,  however,  two  pleasant  exceptions  in  this  literature.  One  is 
the  admonition  which  ’Eney  bequeathed  to  his  son  Chenshotep,  a set  of 
short  proverbs  in  comparatively  simple  style,  in  which  even  we  who  are 
not  Egyptian  scribes  may  take  pleasure.  The  passages  quoted  in  various 
places  above  may  vouch  for  this  fact.2  The  other  is  the  didactic  poem 
of  Dauuf,  in  which  this  wise  man  warns  his  son  Pepy  of  the  unhappiness 
of  any  occupation  that  is  not  literary,  and  represents  to  him  that  each 
of  the  other  professions  is  a source  of  misery,  whilst  he  exalts  and 
exaggerates  the  happiness  which  attends  the  life  of  a learned  man.3 

The  instructions  of  the  New  Empire,  which  are  couched  in  the  form 
of  letters  from  the  teacher  to  the  pupil,  harp  wearisomely  upon  the  same 
idea.  It  is  a misfortune  to  be  a soldier,  and  a misery  to  till  the  ground, 
for  the  only  happiness  for  mankind  is  to  “ turn  the  heart  to  books  during 
the  daytime  and  to  read  during  the  night.”  4 The  fool  who  does  not  strive 
after  the  “ service  of  Thoth,”  5 who  in  spite  of  all  warnings  “ flies  from  his 
books  as  quickly  as  his  feet  will  carry  him,  as  the  horse  on  the  racecourse  (?) 
or  as  a gazelle  when  it  flies,”  has  as  stubborn  a mind  “ as  a donkey  when 
it  is  beaten,”  he  is  no  more  docile  than  “ a deaf  man  who  does  not  hear, 
and  to  whom  one  must  speak  with  the  hand  ” ; he  is  like  a bad  sailor 
who  knows  not  how  to  steer  his  boat.6 

According  to  Egyptian  ideas  there  was  good  reason  for  teaching  the 
student  of  wisdom  by  fictitious  letters,  and  tormenting  him  with  the  copying 
of  pattern  letters  ; for  correct  letter-writing  was  an  art  that  had  to  be  learnt, 
in  order  that  each  superior  and  each  inferior  might  address  each  other  with 
the  etiquette  due  to  their  rank.  To  a relation  or  a friend,  for  instance,  when 
asking  after  his  health,  one  might  write  assuring  him  : “ I say  daily  to  Re‘ 
Harmachis  at  his  rising  and  setting,  and  to  Amon  Re  and  Ptah,  and  to  the 
other  gods  and  goddesses  : Mayst  thou  be  in  health  ! Mayst  thou  live  long  ! 
Mayst  thou  be  happy  ! O that  I might  see  thee  again  in  health  and  em- 
brace thee  in  my  arms.”  The  suitable  phrases  however,  whereby  an  inferior 
might  address  a superior,  ought  to  be  full  of  humility,  as  has  already  been 
shown  in  the  sixth  chapter  (p.  1 1 5).  A letter  should  also  be  well  considered, 
for  he  who  understood  how  to  write  an  elegant  poetical  style  would  be  able, 
as  we  have  seen  by  the  specimen  letters,  to  give  a graceful  turn  to  the 
most  unimportant  matter.  For  instance,  in  reclaiming  geese  that  have  not 
been  delivered,  one  could  speak  of  “ that  white  bird,”  or  “ that  cool  tank  ”;7 

1 Cp.  also  p.  165  for  the  contents  of  a similar  book. 

2 Pp.  155,  165,  166,  256,  318,  394,  395.  I now  think  I was  wrong  in  attributing  the  text  to 
the  New  Empire  ; it  probably  belongs  to  the  Middle  Empire. 

3 Examples  will  be  found  in  the  beginning  of  chapters  14  and  18. 

4 Sail.,  i.  3,  6.  5 An.,  5,  6,  2.  6 An.,  4,  2,  4 ff.  = Roller,  2,  2 flf.  7 See  p.  122. 


XV 


LITER  A TUBE 


385 


or  in  saying  that  one  had  arrived  safely  at  home,  one  might  append  a 
long  poetical  description  of  its  beauty.  1 

In  our  first  chapter  we  touched  upon  the  unimaginative  character  of 
the  ancient  Egyptians  as  well  as  of  their  modern  descendants,  and  we 
strove  to  explain  this  characteristic  by  the  pleasant  yet  monotonous  sur- 
roundings of  their  home.  It  stands  to  reason  that  this  quality  would  make 
itself  felt  especially  in  their  poetry  and  in  their  plastic  art.  In  both  they 
give  us  nothing  but  what  is  good,  so  long  as  they  only  attempt  realistic 
work.  The  homely  character  of  their  natural  surroundings,  and  the  simple 
conditions  under  which  they  lived,  presented  the  right  material  for  their 
sculptors  and  their  poets.  Therefore  in  the  consideration  of  Egyptian 
poetry,  if  we  take  the  ballad  as  our  starting-point,  we  begin  with  their 
best  achievement. 

One  of  the  greatest  pleasures  of  the  fellahin  of  the  present  day,  when 
working  the  shadoofs  or  water-wheels,  is  to  drone  their  monotonous  song  ; 
their  ancestors  also  probably  accompanied  their  work  with  the  same 
unending  sing-song.  A happy  chance  has  preserved  two  such  songs  for 
us.  One,  of  the  time  of  the  5th  dynasty,  was  sung  by  the  shepherd  to  his 
sheep  when,  according  to  Egyptian  custom,  he  was  driving  them  after  the 
sower  over  the  wet  fields,  so  that  they  might  tread  in  the  seed  into  the 
mud.  It  runs  somewhat  as  follows: 

“Your  shepherd  is  in  the  water  with  the  fish, 

He  talks  with  the  sheath-fish,  he  salutes  the  pike 

From  the  West  ! your  shepherd  is  a shepherd  from  the  West.”2 

The  meaning  is  (if  I understand  it  rightly),  that  the  shepherd  is  making 
fun  of  himself  for  having  thus  to  wade  through  the  puddles,  where  the  fish 
call  out  good-day  to  him.  Of  the  time  of  the  1 8th  dynasty,  however,  we 
have  the  following  little  song,  sung  to  the  oxen  by  their  driver,  as  he 
drove  them  ever  round  and  round  the  threshing-floor  : 

“ Work  for  yourselves,  work  for  yourselves, 

Ye  oxen, 

May  you  work  for  yourselves, 

The  second  corn  for  yourselves  ! 

The  grain  for  your  masters  ! ” 

These  words  sound  very  devoid  of  sense,  and  have  evidently  been 
garbled.  In  fact,  the  song  as  a genuine  national  song  is  worded  in  several 
different  ways  ; the  following,  which  has  also  come  down  to  us,  is  certainly 
more  comprehensible  : 

“Thresh  out  for  yourselves,  thresh  out  for  yourselves, 

Ye  oxen,  thresh  out  for  yourselves  ! 

Thresh  out  the  straw  for  yourselves  for  food, 

And  the  grain  for  your  masters. 

Give  yourselves  no  rest, 

It  is  indeed  cool  to-day.”  3 

1 An.,  3,  1,  11  ff. 

2 Badeker,  Lower  Egypt,  427.  “Salutes”  and  “pike”  are  both  hypothetical. 

3 L.  D.,  iii.  10  d,  and  ib.  c ; the  last  line  is  to  be  understood  by  the  words  of  the  ploughman,  ib.  a. 


386 


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CHAP. 


One  of  our  versions  of  this  song  may  have  been  really  sung  by  the 
Egyptian  peasant  ; we  have  also,  at  any  rate  in  a revised  form,  another 
old  national  song  belonging  rather  to  the  educated  classes.  This  is  a 
drinking  song  of  the  Egyptians,  which  seems  also  to  have  been  known 
to  the  Greeks.  The  latter  relate  that  at  a feast  the  figure  of  a mummy 
was  carried  round  with  the  wine,  in  order  to  remind  the  guests  of  death, 
while  in  the  enjoyment  of  this  fleeting  life;1  the  subject-matter  of  our 
song  agrees  as  nearly  as  possible  with  this  custom. 

The  oldest  version  that  has  come  down  to  us  is  the  “ Song  of  the 
house  of  the  blessed  King  ’Entuf,  that  is  written  before  the  harper  ” ; 2 it 
was  a song  therefore  that  was  written  in  the  tomb  of  this  old  Theban 
monarch  near  the  representation  of  a singer.  It  has  also  come  down 
to  us  in  two  versions  of  the  time  of  the  New  Empire,  and  must  therefore 
have  been  a great  favourite  : 

“ It  is  indeed  well  (?)  with  this  good  prince  ! 

The  good  destiny  is  fulfilled  (?) 

The  bodies  pass  away  and  others  remain  behind, 

Since  the  time  of  the  ancestors. 

The  gods  (i.e.  the  kings)  who  have  been  beforetime, 

Rest  in  their  pyramids, 

The  noble  also  and  the  wise 
Are  entombed  in  their  pyramids. 

There  have  they  built  houses,  whose  place  is  no  more, 

Thou  seest  what  has  become  of  them. 

I heard  the  words  of  Ymhotep  and  Hardadaf, 

Who  both  speak  thus  in  their  sayings  : 

‘ Behold  the  dwellings  of  those  men,  their  walls  fall  down, 

Their  place  is  no  more, 

They  are  as  though  they  had  never  existed.’ 

No  one  comes  from  thence,  who  tells  us  what  has  become  of  them, 

Who  tells  us  how  it  goes  with  them  (?),  who  nerves  our  hearts, 

Until  you  approach  the  place,  whither  they  are  gone. 

With  joyful  heart,  forget  not  to  glorify  thyself 
And  follow  thy  heart’s  desire,  so  long  as  thou  livest. 

Put  myrrh  on  thy  head,  clothe  thyself  in  fine  linen, 

Anointing  thyself  with  the  true  marvels  of  God. 

Adorn  thyself  as  beautifully  as  thou  canst 
And  let  not  thy  heart  be  discouraged. 

Follow  thy  heart’s  desire  and  thy  pleasures 
So  long  as  thou  livest  on  earth. 

Let  not  thy  heart  concern  itself 

Until  there  comes  to  thee  that  day  of  mourning. 

Yet  he,  whose  heart  is  at  rest,  hears  not  their  complaint, 

And  he,  who  lies  in  the  tomb,  understands  not  their  mourning. 

With  beaming  face  celebrate  a joyful  day 
And  rest  not  therein. 

For  no  one  carries  away  his  goods  with  him 
Yea,  no  one  returns  again,  who  is  gone  thither.” 


1 Plut.,  Isis  and  Osiris,  cap.  17  ; Herodot.,  2,  9.  Our  song  corresponds  essentially  to  the 
Maneros  song. 

2 Harr.,  500,  6,  2 — 7,  3 ; and  in  an  inscription  of  the  Leyden  Museum.  Cp.  Maspero,  lvtudes 
egypt.,  178  ff.,  and  Records  of  the  Fast,  vol.  iv.,  p.  1 1 5 ff. 


XV 


LITERA  TURE 


387 


A later  version  runs  in  similar  fashion  ; it  was  sung  by  the  harper  at 
the  funerary  feast  of  the  priest  Neferhotep  : 1 

“ How  beautiful  is  this  righteous  prince  ! 

The  beautiful  destiny  is  fulfilled. 

The  bodies  pass  away  since  the  time  of  Re‘, 

And  the  younger  ones  step  into  their  places. 

The  sun  reappears  each  morning 
And  the  evening  sun  sets  in  the  west. 

Men  are  begetting,  women  are  conceiving, 

Every  nostril  breathes  the  breath  of  the  morning. 

But  those  who  are  born  there,  all  together, 

They  go  to  the  place,  which  is  ordained  for  them. 

Celebrate  a joyful  day,  O priest ! 

Place  oils  and  sweet  odours  for  thy  nostril. 

Wreaths  of  lotus  flowers  for  the  limbs, 

For  the  body  of  thy  sister,  who  dwells  in  thy  heart, 

Who  sits  beside  thee. 

Let  there  be  music  and  singing  before  thee, 

Cast  behind  thee  all  cares,  and  mind  thee  of  joy, 

Till  there  corneth  that  day,  when  we  journey  to  the  land  that  loveth  silence. 
Celebrate  a joyful  day,  O Neferhotep, 

Thou  wise  man,  with  pure  hands. 

I have  heard  all  that  has  happened  to  the  ancestors, 

Their  walls  fall  down, 

Their  place  is  no  more, 

They  are  as  though  they  had  never  existed.” 

Therefore  (such  is  the  ever-recurring  moral  of  these  songs)  enjoy  thy 
life,  as  long  as  thou  canst,  before  thy  heart  is  still  for  ever  ; the  day  of 
death  comes  before  thou  thinkest,  and  all  thy  lamentations,  all  thy  sacrifices, 
will  not  call  the  dead  back  to  thee.  The  treasures  thou  hast  won  here 
thou  must  leave  behind  thee  ; what  thou  hast  built  upon  earth  falls  down  ; 
only  the  pleasures  which  thou  hast  enjoyed  dost  thou  really  possess.  Yet 
there  is  one  thing  thou  canst  win,  which  will  never  be  lost  to  thee  : 2 

“ Give  bread  to  him  who  has  no  field, 

And  create  for  thyself  a good  name  for  posterity  for  evermore.” 

I think  that  these  poems  would  appear  worthy  of  attention,  even  if 
they  belonged  to  another  country  richer  in  the  poetical  art  : here  in  the 
barren  desert  of  Egyptian  literature,  where  most  of  the  vegetation  dries 
up  even  as  it  buds,  they  are  doubly  delightful  to  us.  The  love  songs  of 
the  time  of  the  New  Empire  are  almost  as  charming. 

There  is  a collection  called  “ the  beautiful,  gladsome  songs  of  thy 
sister,  whom  thy  heart  loves,  who  walks  in  the  fields  ” ; 3 they  describe 
to  us  the  love-sick  maiden,  as  she  looks  out  in  vain  in  the  fields  “ for  the 
brother  whom  her  heart  loves.”  No  joys  comfort  her  any  longer,  neither 
cakes  nor  wine  : “ what  is  sweet  to  the  mouth  is  to  me  as  the  gall  of  birds  ; 

1 Beginning  of  the  song  from  the  tomb  of  Neferhotep  ; first  translated  by  Stern,  A.  Z.,  1873,  5§ 
ff.,  72  f.,  afterwards  by  Maspero,  Etudes  egypt.,  172  ff.  Cp.  also  Records  of  the  Past,  vol.  vi.,  p.  127  ff. 

2 From  the  Song  in  the  tomb  of  Neferhotep,  towards  the  close. 

•!  Harr.,  500,  12,  1 ff.  My  translation  of  these  songs  follows  essentially  that  of  Maspero  (Etudes 
egypt.,  217  ff. ) ; though  in  a text  of  this  kind  many  details  are  of  course  doubtful. 


388 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


thy  breath  alone  can  comfort  my  heart.”  1 The  occupations  with  which 
she  had  formerly  busied  herself  can  interest  her  no  longer  to-day  ; in 
everything  she  misses  her  friend  : 

“ I say  to  thee  : see  what  I do. 

I go  and  set  my  snare  with  my  hands  . . . 

All  the  birds  of  Arabia  flutter  over  Egypt, 

Anointed  with  myrrh  ; 

The  one  that  comes  first,  seizes  my  worm. 

He  brings  his  fragrance  from  Arabia, 

His  claws  are  full  of  incense. 

My  heart  longs  for  thee,  that  we  may  open  the  snare  together, 

1 with  thee  together,  alone. 

That  thou  mayest  hear  the  wailing  cry  of  my  beautiful  one  anointed  with  myrrh, 
There,  thou  together  with  me. 

1 set  the  snare  : 

How  beautiful  is  he  who  comes  into  the  field,  because  one  loves  him.”  2 

But  the  lover  does  not  come  to  help  her  : 

“ The  cry  of  the  goose  wails, 

It  is  caught  by  the  worm. 

Thy  love  makes  me  tremble 
And  I cannot  loose  the  snare. 

I will  carry  my  net  away. 

What  will  my  mother  say  when  I come  to  her  ? 

Every  day  I return  laden  with  my  spoil, 

But  to-day  I have  set  no  snare, 

For  thy  love  has  taken  possession  of  me.”  3 

Soon  she  speaks  out  her  wishes  more  openly  : 

“ Thou  beautiful  one,  my  wish  is  (to  be  with  thee)  as  thy  wife, 

That  thy  arm  may  lie  upon  my  arm. 

Will  not  my  elder  brother  (come)  to-night  ? 

Otherwise  I am  as  one  who  lies  in  the  grave. 

For  art  thou  not  health  and  light  ?”4 

At  last,  after  a wakeful  night,  she  finds  him  : 

“ The  voice  of  the  dove  speaks, 

She  says  : ‘ the  world  is  light,  observe  it.’ 

Thou,  thou  bird  dost  entice  me. 

Then  I find  my  brother  in  his  room. 

And  my  heart  is  joyful  . . . 

I will  not  turn  from  thee, 

My  hand  remains  in  thy  hand, 

When  I go  out  I am  with  thee  in  all  beautiful  places.”  5 

Grief  and  jealousy  seem,  however,  to  make  their  way  into  the  heart 
of  the  maiden,  as  she  leans  her  face  out  of  the  outer  door  of  the  house, 
and  looks  anxiously  down  the  road  to  see  if  her  lover  may  not  be  coming; 
she  hears  steps  indeed,  but  it  is  only  “ a swift-footed  messenger,”  who  has 
to  excuse  his  remaining  out.  “ Say  only,  another  has  found  thee,”  0 she 
answers  him. 

1 Harr.,  500,  13,  iff. 

4 lb.,  13,  3ff. 


2 lb.,  12,  2 ff. 
5 lb.,  13,  6 ff. 


3 lb.,  12,  7 ff. 
6 lb.,  13,  8 ff. 


XV 


LI  TER  A TURE 


389 


Again  the  youth  complains  : 

“ I will  lie  down  in  my  room, 

I am  ill  indeed  through  violence. 

My  neighbours  come  to  visit  me, 

Yet  if  my  sister  came  with  them, 

She  would  put  all  the  doctors  to  shame  (?) 

For  she  understands  my  sickness.  ” 1 

But  the  sister  does  not  come,  though  he  would  give  all  he  possesses 
for  her  only  to  speak  to  him  : 

“ The  castle  of  my  sister — - 
Her  tank  lies  before  her  house, 

Her  door  stands  open 

Then  my  sister  comes  out  angrily. 

Ah,  if  I were  only  her  doorkeeper, 

That  she  might  scold  me, 

Then  should  I hear  her  voice  even  though  she  were  angry, 

As  a boy  full  of  fear  before  her.  ” 2 

I have  already  shown  in  the  ninth  chapter  that  to  the  Egyptian  the 
garden  with  its  flowers  was  the  right  place  for  love  scenes.  We  may 
here  quote,  in  addition  to  the  pretty  song  cited  above  (p.  194),  a couplet 
from  another  poem,  which  is  also  of  interest  from  its  form.  For,  like  the 
Italian  ritornelles,  each  couplet  in  it  begins  with  the  name  of  a flower, 
with  which  the  rest  is  lightly  connected  by  a play  upon  the  word  : we 
have  to  remember  that  the  maiden  is  weaving  a wreath,  and  that  each 
flower  she  adds  to  it  serves  to  remind  her  of  her  love.  Thus,  if  we  may 
be  allowed  to  replace  the  Egyptian  word-play  by  one  of  like  import,  we 
may  render  it  as  follows  : 

“ Blush  roses  are  in  it  (the  wreath),  one  blushes  before  thee. 

I am  thy  first  sister, 

And  thou  art  to  me  as  the  garden, 

Which  I have  planted  with  flowers 
And  all  sweet-smelling  herbs. 

I directed  a canal  into  it, 

That  thou  mightest  dip  thy  hand  in  it, 

When  the  north  wind  blows  cool. 

The  beautiful  place  where  we  take  a walk, 

When  thine  hand  rests  within  mine 
With  thoughtful  mind  and  joyful  heart, 

Because  we  walk  together. 

It  is  intoxicating  to  me  to  hear  thy  voice, 

And  my  life  depends  upon  hearing  thee. 

Whenever  I see  thee 

It  is  better  to  me  than  food  and  drink.”  3 

We  must  now  turn  our  attention  to  the  more  lofty  style  of  lyric 
poetry,  though  this  branch  of  poetical  art  contains  nothing  very  pleasing. 
The  hymns  which  have  come  down  to  us  in  such  great  numbers  are 
mostly  in  the  form  of  litanies  in  praise  of  the  power  of  the  gods  ; there 
seems  to  be  no  question  of  devotional  feelings  on  the  part  of  the  singer, 

1 Harr.,  500,  10,  9 ff.  2 lb.,  10,  1 1 ff.  3 lb.,  15,  7 ff. 


390 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


in  fact  the  greater  part  consists  of  stereotyped  phrases,  which  could  be 
adapted  to  any  of  the  mighty  gods,  and  could  also  be  used  in  adoration 
of  the  king.  “The  two  countries  together  show  him  honour — to  him 
whose  fear  is  impressed  upon  all  countries — great  in  fame,  who  has  sub- 
dued his  enemy — praised  by  the  great  cycle  of  gods — to  whom  the  dignity 
of  his  father  is  given — he  has  received  the  lordship  of  the  two  countries 
— all  creatures  are  full  of  delight,  their  hearts  are  full  of  joy,  all  men 
rejoice  and  all  creatures  adore  his  beauty  ” — these  are  examples  of  this 
phraseology  ; if  the  name  of  one  of  the  gods  is  added,  and  a few  allusions 
to  the  myth  of  the  god,  his  temple,  or  his  crowns,  are  put  in,  the  hymn 
in  its  usual  form  would  be  complete.  Is  it  possible,  for  instance,  to  imagine 
anything  more  unmeaning  than  the  following  hymn  to  Osiris,  which 
describes  his  statue  and  enumerates  his  temples  ? “ Adoration  to  thee, 

Osiris,  son  of  Nut  ! Lord  of  the  horns  with  the  high  pillar,  to  whom  the 
crown  is  given,  and  the  joy  before  the  gods  ! Created  of  A turn  ! Whose 
power  is  in  the  hearts  of  men  and  gods  and  spirits  ! To  whom  was  given 
the  lordship  in  Heliopolis  ; great  in  existence  at  Busiris  ! Lord  of  fear 
at  ’Eadte,  great  in  manhood  at  Resetu  ! Lord  of  might  in  Chenensuten, 
Lord  of  the  sistrum  in  T’enent  ! Great  in  love  in  every  country,  of 
beautiful  memory  in  the  palace  of  the  god  ! Great  in  splendour  at 
Abydos,  to  whom  was  given  the  triumph  before  the  gods.  . . d 

Comparatively  speaking,  the  best  amongst  these  religious  poems  are 
some  that  formerly  enjoyed  a very  wide  circulation  : the  “ Adorations  of 
Re‘.”  When  the  sun  rises  in  the  east,  the  divine  land,  and  drives  away  the 
darkness,  then  all  living  creatures  shout  for  joy,  especially  the  baboons, 
who,  as  the  Egyptians  believed,  were  wont  then  to  raise  their  paws  in 
adoration  to  that  beneficent  day-star.1  2 3 Mankind  they  thought  ought  also 
to  act  like  these  pious  learned  animals,  and  thus  to  say  to  the  rising  sun  : 
“ Adoration  to  thee,  O Re‘  at  thy  rising,  to  Atum  at  thy  setting  ! 
Thou  dost  rise,  dost  rise  and  shine,  thou  shinest,  crowned  the  king  of  the 
gods.  Thou  art  the  lord  of  Heaven  and  the  lord  of  the  earth,  who  hast 
made  those  above  and  those  below. ::  Thou  only  god,  who  art  from  the 

beginning ! Thou  who  made  the  world,  and  created  man,  who  made 
the  river  of  heaven  and  created  the  Nile,  who  made  the  water  and  gave 
life  to  what  therein  is  ! Who  piled  up  the  mountains  and  caused  men 
and  cattle  to  exist.  . . .” 4 
Or  again  : 

“ Adoration  to  thee,  who  rises  in  the  river  of  heaven  and  enlightens 
the  two  countries  after  he  has  come  forth.  All  the  gods  together  praise 
thee  . . . thou  young  man,  beautiful  in  love  ! When  he  rises  mankind 
live  and  the  gods  shout  with  joy  to  him.  The  spirits  of  Heliopolis  glory 

1 Louvre  C.  30  (from  the  M.  E.). 

2 Cp.  e.g.  Totb.  ed.  Naville,  cap.  16.  Puchstein  has  drawn  my  attention  to  the  fact  that 
IPorapollo  was  cognisant  of  this. 

3 I.e.  according  to  the  explanation  : the  stars  and  mankind. 

4 Totb.  ed.  Naville,  15  A III. 


XV 


LI  TER  A TURE 


.391 


in  him,  and  the  spirits  of  Buto  exalt  him.1  The  baboons  adore  him,  and 
all  wild  animals  praise  him  together. 

Thy  uraeus-snake  beats  down  thine  enemies.  Those  who  are  in  thy 
bark  rejoice  over  thee,  and  thy  sailors  are  content.  The  bark  of  the 
morning  sun  has  received  thee,  and  thy  heart,  O lord  of  the  gods,  is 
joyful  over  that  which  thou  hast  created  ; they  show  thee  adoration.  The 
goddess  of  heaven  shines  like  lapis  lazuli  by  thy  side,  and  the  god  of 
the  river  of  heaven  dances  (?)  before  thee  with  his  rays  of  light.”" 

These  hymns  to  the  sun  are  found  in  a hundred  variations  for  the 
morning  and  for  the  evening — as  a rule  they  give  us  more  satisfaction  than 
the  “adorations”  to  other  gods,  probably  because  the  rising  and  setting 
of  this  mighty  life-giving  luminary  awakens  in  man  deeper  and  truer  feel- 
ings than  a figure  of  Osiris,  or  a representation  of  Ptah.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  the  hymns  to  the  Nile  ; the  flowing  stream  laden  with  blessing 
is  a visible  sacred  being,  and  when  the  Egyptian  treats  of  the  real,  and 
describes  the  things  he  daily  sees,  his  art  always  succeeds  the  best.  This 
is  plainly  to  be  seen  in  these  poems  ; if  we  ever  find  that  a pleasing 
passage  has  made  its  way  into  the  monotonous  phrases,  we  may  wager  ten 
to  one  that  it  has  been  called  forth  by  some  mention  of  nature. 

Thus  the  compiler  of  a hymn  to  Amon  may  interrupt  his  recapitulation 
of  the  epithets  of  the  god,  and  after  the  following  hackneyed  phrases  : 

“ Who  has  made  all  that  is  and  that  exists, 

From  his  eyes  mankind  came  forth 
And  the  gods  from  his  mouth,” 

he  goes  on  to  add  the  following  verses  : 

“ Who  makes  the  herb  for  the  cattle 
And  the  fruit  tree  for  mankind, 

He  gives  life  to  the  fish  of  the  river 
And  to  the  birds  under  the  heaven.  . 

He  gives  breath  to  the  being  in  the  egg, 

And  preserves  the  son  of  the  worm,  (?) 

He  creates  that  whereon  the  fly  lives, 

The  worms  and  the  fleas,  as  many  as  they  are. 

He  creates  what  the  mice  need  in  their  holes, 

And  preserves  the  birds  (?)  on  all  the  trees.”  3 

This  is  naive  and  pretty ; it  shows  the  same  loving  observation  of 
nature  which  is  the  cause  of  the  great  success  of  the  animal  representations 
on  the  Egyptian  reliefs. 

What  we  have  said  above  about  the  religious  hymns  applies  also 
essentially  to  those  that  refer  to  the  king,  the  style  of  which  the  reader 
will  remember  from  several  passages  that  have  been  quoted.4  These  also 

1 These  spirits  are  daemonic  beings  with  heads  of  jackals  or  hawks,  who  are  often  mentioned, 
and  must  have  played  a part  in  the  mythology. 

2 Toth.  ed.  Naville,  15  A.  II. 

I’ap.  17  de  Bold.,  6,  3.  The  son  of  the  worm  is  perhaps  a corruption  of  the  word  for  locust. 

4 Pp.  66,  67,  71,  and  the  specially  characteristic  passages  pp.  57,  68. 


392 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAr. 


consist  mostly  of  a string  of  phrases,  and  are  full  of  big  words  and  bold 
hyperboles  that  have  become  hackneyed  by  frequent  use.  For  instance, 
in  an  ode,  which  was  much  admired  in  Egypt,1  Amon  Re‘  addresses 
Thothmes  III.  the  great  conqueror: 

“ I come  and  cause  thee  to  destroy  the  great  men  of  D'ah, 

I throw  them  beneath  thy  feet,  which  pursue  their  people. 

I cause  them  to  see  thy  Majesty  as  the  lord  of  light, 

Thou  shinest  over  them  as  my  image. 

1 come  and  cause  thee  to  destroy  those  who  are  in  Asia, 

The  chiefs  of  the  Asiatics  of  Syria  thou  dost  take  captive. 

I cause  them  to  see  thy  Majesty  adorned  with  thy  splendour, 

Thou  dost  seize  the  weapons  and  dost  fight  on  thy  chariot  ” ; 

and  so  on  in  the  same  tone  for  ten  double  verses  ; all  these  high-sounding 
words,  however,  do  not  impress  the  reader,  who  remains  untouched  by 
these  continually-repeated  assurances  that  the  king  “ is  leading  the  rebels 
captive  to  Egypt,  their  princes  with  their  tribute  to  his  palace,”  that  “ the 
fear  of  him  is  in  their  body,  and  their  limbs  tremble  at  the  time  of  his 
fear,”  that  “ the  country  of  Cheta  is  pierced  to  the  heart,  and  become  a heap 
of  corpses,” 2 — how  willingly  would  we  exchange  these  for  one  verse  of 
genuine  feeling.  It  is  a bad  sign,  and  shows  the  worthlessness  of  these 
pretentious  poems,  that  scarcely  a passage  remains  in  the  memory  of  the 
reader.  We  have  one  feeling  only  about  these  high-flown  words,  namely, 
that  we  have  read  them  dozens  of  times  before  in  other  places.  Yet  even 
in  these  odes  the  descriptions  of  nature  form  an  exception  now  and  then  ; 
these  are  generally  figurative  passages,  in  which  the  king  may  be  compared 
to  “a  lion  victorious  when  he  comes  and  goes,  when  he  roars,  when  his  cry 
resounds  through  the  rocky  valley  of  the  antelopes;  a jackal  hastily  seeking 
his  prey,  roving  all  round  the  world  in  no  time  ...  a fire  fed  with  the 
oil  of  herbs,  with  the  storm  in  its  rear,  like  a flame  which  has  tasted  the 
heat  ...  a terrible  storm,  raging  on  the  sea,  the  waves  rise  like  mountains, 
no  one  approaches  him,  and  he  who  chances  to  be  therein,  sinks  in  the 
deep.”  3 

The  fairy  tales  which,  as  we  have  seen,  often  contain  the  plot  of  his- 
torical events,  convince  us  that  the  mighty  deeds  of  the  kings,  their  great 
buildings,  and  their  wars,  could  rouse  the  imagination  of  the  Egyptians  to 
nobler  compositions  than  these  hymns.  As  a nation,  however,  they  seem 
scarcely  to  have  risen  above  these  unpretending  tales  to  the  higher  step  in 
poetic  art,  to  epic  poetry,  for  in  the  literature  that  has  been  preserved 
to  us  there  is  only  one  example  of  an  attempt  to  relate  the  deeds  of  the 
Pharaoh  in  true  poetic  form.  This  is  the  poem  on  the  great  battle  which 
Ramses  II.  fought  with  the  Cheta  at  Kadesh.  This  poem  must  have 
been  most  gratifying  to  the  king  who  was  extolled,  for  in  several  instances 
he  caused  it  to  be  inscribed  on  the  walls  of  his  newly-built  temples.  With 
the  people  also  it  seems  to  have  been  in  great  repute,  for  about  seventy  years 


1 A century  and  a half  later  the  same  ode  was  dedicated  to  Sety  I. 

2 L.  D.,  iii.  195  a.  3 L.  D..  iii.  195  a. 


xv 


LITER  A TURE 


393 


later,  in  the  reign  of  Merenptah,  we  meet  with  it  in  a school  copy-book.1 
Yet  it  makes  little  impression  on  us,  the  spoilt  folk  of  modern  days, 
and  the  reader  will  hardly  be  inclined  to  join  in  the  admiration  of  those 
enthusiastic  Egyptologists  who  have  compared  it  with  the  Iliad. 

In  the  first  place  we  are  exactly  informed  in  an  absolutely  prosaic 
manner  where  and  how  the  two  armies  stood  before  the  battle.  The  poem 
then  continues  : “His  Majesty  hastened  forward,  and  broke  the  ranks  of 
the  Cheta,  he  quite  alone,  and  nobody  was  with  him.  When  his  Majesty 
then  looked  behind  him,  he  saw  that  his  retreat  was  cut  off  by  2500 
chariots,  which  were  manned  by  all  the  heroes  of  the  miserable  prince  of  the 
Cheta,  and  of  the  many  countries  in  confederation  with  him,  ’Ertu,  Masu, 
P'atasa,  Keshkesh,  ’Erun,  Oad'auadana,  Cherbu,  ’Ekatere’,  Kadesh,  and 
Ruka.  On  each  chariot  there  stood  indeed  three  of  them.  . . . No  prince 
was  with  him,  and  no  chariot-driver,  no  officer  of  the  infantry,  nor  of  the 
chariot  force  ; his  infantry  and  his  chariot  force  had  forsaken  him,  and 
not  one  of  them  was  there  to  fight  beside  him. 

“ Then  spake  his  Majesty  : 1 How  is  this,  my  father  Amon  ? Does  a 
father  then  forget  his  son  ? I have  done  indeed  nothing  without  thee. 
Did  I not  for  thy  sake  go  forward  or  stand  still  ? without  ever  over- 
stepping thy  plan,  and  I never  turned  aside  from  thy  will.  . . . What  do 
these  Asiatics,  indeed,  want  before  Amon  ? He  is  miserable  who  knows 
not  God.  Have  I not  erected  to  thee  many  monuments,  in  order  to  fill  thy 
temple  with  my  spoil  ? I have  built  for  thee  the  house  of  millions  of 
years,  and  have  made  offerings  for  its  endowment.  All  countries  together 
bring  thee  their  first  fruits,  in  order  to  increase  thy  sacred  revenues  ; for 
thee  ten  thousand  oxen  are  slaughtered,  with  all  manner  of  sweet-smelling 
herbs.  I did  not  withdraw  my  hand  until  I had  established  thy  hall  of 
pillars,  and  built  to  thee  stone  pylons  . . . and  erected  eternal  flag-staves 
to  thee  ; I brought  also  obelisks  from  Elephantine.  I am  he  who  causes 
eternal  stones  to  be  brought  for  thee,  and  who  causes  the  ships  to  voyage 
on  the  sea,  in  order  to  bring  thee  gifts  from  all  countries.  Has  this  indeed 
ever  happened  once  before  ? 

“ ‘ Shame  upon  those  who  defy  thy  will ! well  for  him  who  understands  (?) 
thee,  Amon  ! . . . I call  to  thee,  my  father  Amon.  I am  in  the  midst 
of  many  people,  I am  quite  alone,  no  one  is  with  me,  and  my  foot  soldiers 
and  my  chariot  force  have  forsaken  me.  When  I cried  to  them,  not  one 
of  them  heard  me.  When  I called  to  them  I found  that  Amon  was 
better  to  me  than  millions  of  foot  soldiers  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
chariots,  of  brothers  or  of  sons  united  together.  The  works  of  men  are 
as  nothing  ; Amon  is  more  precious  than  they.  I have  come  hither, 
according  to  the  word  of  thy  mouth,  O Re‘,  and  have  not  overstepped 
what  was  thy  design. 

“ ‘ Do  I not  call  from  the  ends  of  the  world  ? And  yet  my  voice  has 
indeed  reached  to  Hermonthis.  Re‘  has  heard  me,  he  comes  to  me  when 

1 Sail.,  3.  The  scribe  of  this  manuscript,  a certain  Pentauert,  who  has  been  erroneously  thought 
to  be  the  author  of  the  poem,  was  still  alive,  as  Sail.  I.  informs  us,  in  the  tenth  year  of  Merenptalp. 


394 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


I call  to  him.  He  reaches  his  hand  to  me,  I rejoice — he  calls  from 
behind  me  : ‘ Thou  art  not  alone,  I am  with  thee,  I thy  father  Re‘,  my 
hand  is  with  thee.  I am  worth  more  to  thee  than  hundreds  of  thousands 
together,  I am  the  lord  of  victory  who  loves  valour.’ 

“ ‘ I take  heart  again  (?),  my  breast  is  full  of  joy.  What  I desire  to  do, 
that  happens.  I am  as  Mont,  I shoot  to  the  right  and  hurl  (?)  to  the  left. 
I am  as  Ba‘al,  as  a plague  upon  them;  I find  the  2500  chariot  force 
of  their  army  lying  slaughtered  under  the  feet  of  my  horses.  Behold 
none  of  them  are  able  to  fight  before  me,  their  hearts  melt  in  their  bodies, 
their  arms  fall  down,  they  cannot  shoot,  and  they  have  no  courage  to  grasp 
the  dagger.  I make  them  rush  into  the  water  even  as  the  crocodiles 
rush  into  the  water.  They  fall  over  each  other  and  I slay  them  according 
to  my  will.  Not  one  of  them  looks  behind  him  and  not  one  of  them 
turns  round.  He  who  falls  of  them  rises  not  up  again.’  ” 

If  the  poem  came  to  an  end  here,  we  might  rejoice  in  the  really 
beautiful  thought  that  the  god  should  hasten  into  a far  country  to  the 
help  of  the  king,  when  he  firmly  trusted  in  him.  Unfortunately  the  poem 
is  spun  out  interminably,  though  in  the  part  that  follows,  which  is  three 
times  as  long,  the  action  scarcely  advances  at  all.  The  king  expatiates 
unweariedly  on  his  heroic  courage  and  his  great  victory,  on  the  faint- 
heartedness of  his  soldiers,  and  the  discomfiture  of  the  enemy.  Thus  in 
this  so-called  epic  there  is  little  action  and  much  discourse. 

This  history  of  the  battle  of  Kadesh  is  termed  a poem,  merely  on 
account  of  the  style,  which  has  poetic  colour,  though  it  appears  to  be 
wanting  in  poetic  form.  This  is  as  a rule  the  same  form  with  which  we 
are  familiar  from  Hebrew'  poetry,  the  so-called  parallelism  of  the  phrases  ; 
two  short  sentences  following  each  other,  and  corresponding  in  arrange- 
ment and  also  as  a rule  in  purport.  The  following  description  of  a king 
is  an  exact  case  in  point  : 1 

“ His  eyes,  they  see  through  every  creature, 

He  is  Re‘,  who  beholds  with  his  rays. 

He  enlightens  Egypt  more  than  the  sun. 

He  causes  the  country  to  flourish  more  than  a high  Nile, 

He  gives  food  to  those  who  follow  him, 

He  nourishes  him  who  follows  him  in  his  way.” 

Somewhat  freer  is  the  parallelism  in  the  graceful  comparison  of  the 
mutability  of  fortune  with  the  yearly  change  of  the  bed  of  the  stream: 

“ The  ford  of  the  water  of  the  past  year  has  gone, 

Another  passage  this  year  has  come. 

Great  oceans  become  dry  paths, 

And  a bank  becomes  an  abyss.”  2 

The  parallel  phrases  may  group  themselves  in  strophes  often  of  very 
artificial  arrangement,  as  is  shown  by  the  various  poems  cpioted  in  this  as 


1 Mar.  Abyd.,  ii.  25. 


2 Pap.  de  Boul.,  i.  2 


XV 


LI  TER  A TURK 


395 


well  as  in  previous  chapters  (see  pp.  194,  256,  257).  These  parallel 
phrases  are,  moreover,  frequently  arranged  in  different  order  : 

“ I come,  and  cause  thee  to  trample  underfoot  the  West. 

Phoenicia  and  Cyprus  lie  beneath  thy  power, 

I cause  them  to  see  thy  Majesty  as  a youthful,  powerful,  horned  bull, 

Whom  one  does  not  approach. 

I come,  and  cause  thee  to  trample  underfoot  those  that  are  in  their  harbours, 

The  islands  of  Met'en  tremble  beneath  thy  fear. 

I cause  them  to  see  thy  Majesty  as  a crocodile,  the  terrible  lord  of  the  water, 

Whom  one  dares  not  approach.”  1 

Here  the  arrangement  is  aba  b,  and  a as  well  as  b divide  on  their 
part  again  into  parallel  divisions,  so  that  the  scheme  proper  is  a}a~bYblaid1 
blb 2.  Yet  the  poet,  not  content  with  these  two  strophes,  which  are  parallel 
to  each  other,  has  constructed  eight  others  in  like  manner.  It  often 
happens  also  that  the  parallel  verses  are  intentionally  intercepted  at  a 
certain  place  by  a single  line  standing  alone. 

Hand  in  hand  with  this  antithetical  style  of  poetry  there  seems  to 
have  been  poetry  of  metrical  nature,  poetry  divided  into  short  lines,  which 
under  the  New  Empire  were  also  distinguished  in  the  manuscripts  by  red 
dots.2  These  little  verses  are  punctuated,  not  merely  so  as  to  denote  the 
sense,  but  also  the  divisions  that  are  to  be  observed  in  recitation  ; we  are 
ignorant  however  of  further  details.  I would  only  add  the  following 
conjecture:  each  verse  was  probably  supposed  to  contain  a certain  number 
of  primary  accents  — in  fact,  usually  two  ; it  appears  to  me  that  the 
peculiar  law  of  accentuation  in  the  Egyptian  language,  viz.  that  several 
words  closely  allied  in  syntax  should  be  invested  with  one  primary  accent, 
lies  at  the  root  of  this  verse-construction. 

It  was  most  natural  that  the  Egyptians  should  seek  the  aid  of  all 
manner  of  artificial  means  to  help  out  their  poetry,  the  subject-matter  of 
which  was  often  so  poor.  For  this  object  a very  favourite  device  was 
alliteration,  as  is  shown  for  instance  in  a verse  already  quoted  (see 
p.  250),  in  which  seven  words  out  of  the  ten  begin  with  in  : 

“ ’eu  me ru  ;«eh  cm  mou  waut 
ta  b‘ah  em  werutf” 

(When  the  tanks  are  full  of  fresh  water 
And  the  earth  overflows  with  his  love). 

In  the  same  way  the  author  of  a dedicatory  inscription  to  Queen 
Chnemtamum  :1  imagined  the  following  to  be  the  most  graceful  style  he 
could  use : 

“ ser/tepernef  er  utes  r/J‘auf 
rf/epert  chepru  nvc  Cl/epr’e 
ch> at  c/hau  m’e  ’Ec/mte  ” 

1 Mar.  Karn.,  II. 

2 There  was  no  rule  as  to  the  marking  of  the  verse-divisions  ; in  several  instances  we  have  the 

same  text  with  and  without  this  punctuation.  Under  the  Middle  Empire  the  manuscripts  are  not 
yet  punctuated.  3 L.  D.,  iii.  24  s. 


396 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP.  XV 


(He  has  created  (her)  in  order  to  exalt  his  splendour, 

She,  who  creates  beings  like  the  god  Chepr’e, 

She,  whose  diadems  shine  like  those  of  the  god  of  the  horizon). 

In  the  great  ode  to  King  Thothmes  III.  1 the  poet  also  says: 

“ da:esn  em  sa  //ak, 

‘aue  Iien'e  lie r //ert  lie r se//er  chut  ” 

(I  place  them  behind  thee  as  protection  ; 

The  arms  of  my  Majesty  are  raised  and  chase  away  evil). 

In  the  period  however  of  which  we  are  treating,  this  alliterative  style 
had  not  taken  a definite  poetic  form,  it  was  only  used  occasionally  as 
ornamentation,  like  the  puns  we  meet  with  so  frequently  in  Egyptian  texts. 
The  Egyptians  took  great  delight  in  puns, — for  instance,  there  is  a poem 
on  the  chariot  of  the  king,  consisting  entirely  of  these  witticisms  ; all  the 
parts  of  the  chariot  are  enumerated,  and  a pun,  describing  the  might  of 
the  king,  is  made  on  the  name  of  each  part.  Thus,  if  we  might  attempt 
a modern  equivalent,  as  far-fetched  in  sound  as  the  old  Egyptian,  it  might 
perhaps  run  somewhat  as  follows  : 

“ The  wheels  of  thy  chariot — 

Thou  wieldest  thy  battle-axe. 

The  scythe  of  thy  chariot — 

Draws  sighs  from  all  nations.” 

It  is  interesting  to  perceive  how  much  trouble  the  author  has  often 
taken  with  these  devices  ; where  they  occur,  the  sense  is  almost  always 
obscure  or  ambiguous,  and  frequently  indeed  quite  incomprehensible,  at 
any  rate  to  us.  For  instance,  no  one  has  as  yet  determined  the  signifi- 
cation of  the  words  : “ suten  sut  en  suhanef  er  d'aut,  ‘ aucf  em  red' aut”  2 
though  the  rest  of  the  inscription  is  perfectly  clear  ; the  reason  doubtless 
being  that  the  author,  in  order  to  make  his  double  pun,  has  unduly 
strained  the  language. 

1 Mar.  Karn.,  n.  2 L.  D.,  iii.  65  a. 


THE  GOD  BES,  PLAYING  THE  LYRE. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  PLASTIC  ARTS 

We  are  so  much  accustomed  to  regard  the  limits  of  the  various  branches 
of  the  plastic  arts  as  self-evident  and  natural,  that  it  will  seem  strange  to 
many  readers  that  it  is  only  to  a certain  degree  that  we  can  recognise 
these  limitations  as  regards  Egyptian  art.  In  Egypt  we  cannot,  as  we 
usually  do  now,  reckon  the  art  of  relief  as  sculpture  ; it  belongs  from  its 
nature  to  the  art  of  painting  or  rather  to  that  of  drawing  purely. 
Egyptian  relief  as  well  as  Egyptian  painting,  consists  essentially  of  mere 
outline  sketching,  and  it  is  usual  to  designate  the  development  of  this 
art  in  its  various  stages  as  painting,  relief  en  creux,  and  bas-relief.  If  the 
sketch  is  only  outlined  with  colour,  we  now  call  it  a painting,  if  it  is  sunk 
below  the  field,  a relief  en  creux,  if  the  field  between  the  individual  figures 
is  scraped  away,  we  consider  it  a bas-relief.  The  style  of  drawing  however 
is  in  all  these  cases  exactly  the  same,  and  there  is  not  the  smallest 
difference  in  the  way  in  which  the  figures  are  coloured  in  each.  At  one 
time  the  Egyptian  artist  went  so  far  as  to  seek  the  aid  of  the  chisel  to 
indicate,  by  modelling  in  very  flat  relief,  the  more  important  details  of  the 
figure  ; yet  this  modelling  was  always  considered  a secondary  matter,  and 
was  never  developed  into  a special  style  of  relief. 

Moreover  the  Egyptians  themselves  evidently  saw  no  essential  differ- 
ence between  painting,  relief  en  creux,  and  bas-relief  ; the  work  was  done 
most  rapidly  by  the  first  method,  the  second  yielded  work  of  special 
durability,  the  third  was  considered  a very  expensive  manner  of  execution. 
We  can  plainly  see  in  many  monuments  how  this  or  that  technique  was 
chosen  with  regard  purely  to  the  question  of  cost.  Thus,  in  the  Theban 
tombs,  the  figures  which  would  strike  the  visitor  first  on  entering  are  often 
executed  in  bas-relief,  those  on  the  other  walls  of  the  first  chamber  are  often 
worked  in  relief  en  creux,  while  in  the  rooms  behind  they  are  merely  painted. 


398 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


The  royal  tombs  were  supposed  to  be  decorated  entirely  in  relief  en  creux , 
but  it  is  seldom  that  this  system  of  work  is  found  throughout,  for  if  the 
Pharaoh  died  before  the  tomb  was  finished,  his  successor  generally  filled 
up  the  remaining  spaces  cheaply  and  quickly  with  painting.  The  same 
may  be  observed  with  regard  to  the  temples.  For  instance,  the  sanctuary 
of  Gurnah  was  begun  by  Sety  I.  on  a small  scale,  and  was  therefore 
decorated  in  bas-relief;  but  when  afterwards  his  son  Ramses  II.  deter- 
mined to  finish  it  on  a much  larger  scale,  he  was  obliged  to  drop  this 
laborious  style  of  decoration  and  content  himself  with  relief  en  creux. 
In  the  same  way  Ramses  III.  decorated  his  little  palace  of  Medinet  Habu 
with  bas-relief,  but  when  it  came  to  the  enormous  requirements  of  the 
immense  temple  which  he  built  in  the  rear  at  the  same  time,  he  was 
again  obliged  to  substitute  the  cheaper  method.  When  also,  as  we 
mentioned  above,  the  details  of  a figure  are  worked  out  by  the  modeller, 
this  is  evidently  considered  a great  extravagance,  and  is  often  restricted 
to  the  chief  figure  in  a representation.  Thus,  for  instance,  in  the  tomb  of 
Sety  I.,  the  face  of  this  king  alone  is  modelled,  while  his  body  and  all  the 
other  numerous  figures  are  given  in  mere  outline. 

The  art  of  drawing  in  Egypt  was  ruled  by  fashion,  and  the  curious 

way  in  which  it  was  customary 
to  treat  the  human  figure  ap- 
pears most  strange  to  us.  In 
the  endeavour  to  show  every 
part  of  the  body,  if  possible  in 
profile,  as  being  the  most 
characteristic  point  of  view,  the 
Egyptian  artist  designed  a 
body,  the  incongruities  of 
which  were  quite  contrary  to 
nature.  As  a whole  we  may 
consider  it  to  be  in  profile,  for 
this  is  the  usual  position  of  the 
head,  the  arms,  the  legs,  and 
the  feet.  In  the  profile  of  the 
head,  however,  the  eye  is  repre- 
sented en  face , whilst  the  body 
comes  out  in  the  most  confused 
fashion.  The  shoulders  are  given 
in  front  view,  whilst  the  wrist 
is  in  profile,  and  the  chest  and 
lower  part  of  the  body  share 
both  positions.  With  the  chest, 
for  instance,  the  further  side  is 
en  face , the  nearer  in  profile,  the 
lower  part  of  the  body  must  be  considered  to  be  three-quarter  view,  as  we 
see  by  the  position  of  the  umbilicus.  The  hands  are  usually  represented 


SPECIMEN  FIGURES  IN  THE  STYLE  OF  THE 
OLD  EMPIRE. 


As  in  a similar  relief  at  Berlin,  the  muscles  are  filled  in, 
and  show  that  the  artist  made  a difference  between 
the  inner  and  outer  side  of  the  leg.  The  right 
hand  of  the  woman  is,  as  is  almost  always  the  case, 
twisted  round  in  an  impossible  manner  (after  L.  D. , 
ii.  29a). 


XVI 


THE  PLASTIC  ARTS 


399 


in  full  and  from  the  back,1  hence  we  find  that  in  cases  where  the  hands 
are  drawn  open  or  bent,  the  thumb  is  almost  always  in  an  impossible 
position.  The  feet  are  always  represented  in  profile,  and  probably  in 
order  to  avoid  the  difficulty  of  drawing  the  toes,  they  are  always  drawn 
both  showing  the  inner  side,  though  in  finished  pictures,  when  the  calves 
of  the  legs  are  drawn,  the  inner  and  outer  sides  are  rightly  distinguished 
from  each  other. 

In  addition  to  these  peculiarities,  the  Egyptians  usually  observed 


two  general  laws,  both  of  which  had  a great  influence  on  the  drawing 
of  the  human  figure.  The  first  enacted  that  when  one  arm  or  foot  was 
in  advance  of  the  other,  it  must  always  be  the  further  one  from  the 
spectator  ; a figure  therefore  which  looked  towards  the  right  could  only 
have  the  left  arm  or  foot  in  advance,  and  vice  versa.  The  reason  of  this 
law  is  self-evident  ; if  the  right  arm  were  extended,  it  would  cut  across 
the  body  in  an  ugly  and  confusing  manner. 

It  is  more  difficult  to  find  an  explanation  for  the  other  law,  by  which 
all  figures  in  their  rightful  position  were  supposed  to  look  to  the  right,  thus 
turning  the  right  side  to  the  spectator.  This  position  was  a fundamental 
rule  with  the  Egyptian  artist,2  and  whenever  he  was  at  liberty  to  represent 

1 This  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  in  all  representations  where  the  details  are  given  the  nails  ot 
the  fingers  are  shown.  . 

2 The  hieroglyphs  are  also  usually  drawn  in  this  direction. 


CORRECT  DRAWING  TURNED  TO 
THE  RIGHT. 


REVERSED  DRAWING  TURNED  TO 
THE  LEFT. 


Two  representations  of  Prince  Mer’eb  (after  L.  D. , 20,  21), 


400 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


the  figure  as  he  pleased,  he  always  made  it  turn  to  the  right  ; when  for 
any  reason  he  was  obliged  to  draw  it  looking  toward  the  left,  he  contented 
himself  with  simply  reversing  his  design,  regardless  of  the  contradictions 
to  which  such  a course  gave  rise.  The  statues  of  the  Old  Empire  show 
us  (see  for  instance  p.  204)  that  the  pleated  part  of  the  gala  skirt  was 
always  on  the  right  side,  and  in  all  the  drawings  in  which  the  figure  is 
turned  to  the  right  it  is  also  represented  thus.  From  the  statues  we  see 
further  that  the  long  sceptre  was  always  held  in  the  left  hand,  and  the  short 
one  in  the  right  ; this  is  also  correctly  shown  in  all  figures  that  are  drawn 
looking  towards  the  right.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  figures  which  are  only 
mechanical  inversions  of  those  turned  to  the  right,  the  sceptres  as  well  as 
the  sides  of  the  skirt  always  change  places.  I cannot  go  into  further 
detail  as  to  the  confusion  that  resulted  in  the  drawing  of  the  hands  of 
these  reversed  figures,  and  of  the  wonderful  ways  in  which  many  artists 
sought  to  extricate  themselves  from  this  tangle.1 

The  same  rules  were  observed  in  the  drawing  of  animals,  which  were 
represented  in  profile  with  the  exception  usually  of  a few  parts  of  the  body, 
like  the  eyes  and  sometimes  the  horns,2  which  would  be  more  charac- 
teristic drawn  en  face.  Animals  also  always  advance  that  foot  or  arm 
which  is  the  further  from  the  spectator  ; birds  even  are  not  excepted  from 
this  rule. 

The  peculiar  aspect  of  Egyptian  pictures  is  due  to  the  development 
of  the  above  laws,  which  must  have  been  invented  in  prehistoric  times, 
for  they  are  followed  inviolably  in  the  oldest  monuments  that  we  possess, 
and  they  ruled  Egyptian  art  as  long  as  that  art  existed.  Even  with 
ourselves  it  is  not  difficult  to  accustom  our  eyes  to  these  peculiarities, 
so  that  they  no  longer  offend  us,  and  of  course  they  were  quite  unobjec- 
tionable to  the  Egyptians,  who  doubtless  believed  that  this  was  the  only 
right  way  of  regarding  and  of  representing  the  human  form. 

They  did  not  however  consider  this  style  as  the  only  possible  way  of 
drawing  ; for  even  under  the  Old  Empire  they  emancipated  themselves 
to  a certain  extent  from  this  traditional  style.  In  a tomb  of  the  4th 
dynasty,  for  instance,  we  meet  with  individual  figures  which  are  treated  in 
a perfectly  natural  manner, — they  turn  their  backs  to  us,  or  advance  the 
wrong  leg  and  commit  similar  crimes  allowed  indeed  by  nature  but  not 
by  Egyptian  art.  These  figures  are  also  drawn  with  such  certainty  of 
touch  that  we  cannot  regard  them  as  mere  experiments  or  isolated 
attempts  ; the  artists  who  sketched  them  were  evidently  accustomed  to 
work  in  this  free  style.  In  this  ancient  period  therefore,  there  must  have 
been,  besides  the  strict  old-fashioned  style,  a younger  freer  school  of  art, 
though  the  latter  was  evidently  not  regarded  with  so  much  respect  as  the 
former.  Whoever  liked  might  have  his  house  decorated  in  this  style,  but 
it  was  not  considered  suitable  for  the  tomb  of  a man  of  rank.  Here  it 

1 A few  artists  (L.  D.,  ii.  18,  19,  21,  32)  evidently  imagine  that  when  the  figure  is  turned  to 
the  left,  the  body  is  seen  from  the  back. 

2 E.g.  the  horns  of  oxen  or  gazelles  en  face , but  those  of  the  ibex  in  profile  (L.  D.,  ii.  6,  23,  54). 


XVI 


THE  PLASTIC  ARTS 


401 


was  only  right  that  the  formal  traditional  style  should  have  undivided 
sway,  and  if  an  artist  sometimes  allowed  himself  a little  liberty,  it  was  at 
most  with  one  of  the  unimportant  figures.  In  fact,  whenever  we  meet 
with  one  of  these  unconventional  figures  in  a tomb,  it  is  generally  in  the 
case  of  a fisher  or  a butcher,  or  perhaps  of  an  animal  such  as  a gazelle, 


FREE  REPRESENTATION  OF  A CATCH  OF  FISH,  SPECIALLY  REMARKABLE  FOR  THE  FIRST  MAN 
AT  THE  RIGHT-HAND  END  OF  THE  ROPE  (after  L.  D. , ii.  9). 


etc.1  It  would  have  been  considered  a most  unsuitable  way  to  represent 
the  deceased  or  any  other  important  personage. 

Thus  under  the  Old  Empire  we  meet  with  a realistic  school,  which 
was  never  of  much  account, 
side  by  side  with  the  official 
conventional  art,  and  in  later 
times  also  we  find  the  same 
conditions  everywhere — they 

are  as  it  were  the  sign  manual 
of  the  whole  history  of  Egypt- 
ian art. 

The  pictures  of  the  Old 
Empire  have  one  conspicuous 
merit,  viz.  the  clearness  of  the 
drawing.  This  result  is  evi- 
dently obtained  by  the  artist 
placing  his  figures  close  together 
in  horizontal  lines.  Even  the 
most  complicated  scenes,  the 
confusion  of  the  hunt,  a crowded 
herd,  are  rendered  distinct  and 
comprehensible,  thanks  to  this 
division  into  lines  one  above 
the  other.  The  ancient  artist 
was  always  conscious  of  the 

extent  of  his  power.  He  moreover  preferred  to  walk  in  the  old  ways,  and 

1 E.g.  figures  seen  from  the  back,  L.  D.,  ii.  9,  64  ; shoulders  in  profile,  ib.  4 ; animals  drawn 
unconventionally,  ib.  12,  47. 


2 D 


402 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


to  follow  the  same  lines  as  his  predecessors.  Almost  every  picture  that 
we  meet  with  under  the  Old  Empire — and  the  range  of  the  scenes 
represented  is  not  very  large — has  its  typical  mode  of  representation,  to 
which  all  the  artists  adhere,  though  they  may  allow  themselves  to  make 
certain  slight  improvements  or  additions.  For  instance,  if  a victory  of  the 
Pharaoh  is  to  be  represented,  the  king  is  drawn  swinging  his  club  and 
striding  forward  to  slay  an  enemy  who,  pierced  by  a javelin,  has  fallen 
on  his  knee  before  him.  The  composition  of  the  group  is  always  the 
same  even  to  the  smallest  detail, — the  foe  turns  his  head  and  right  arm 
towards  the  king  craving  mercy  ; with  the  left  arm  he  supports  himself 
on  the  left  knee,  whilst  with  the  right  foot  the  poor  wretch  has  already 
lost  his  footing  on  the  ground.1  A certain  amount  of  liberty  is  allowed 
to  the  artist  with  regard  to  the  costume  of  the  king  and  of  the  barbarian, 
as  well  as  with  regard  to  the  gods  who  are  spectators  of  this  scene,  but 
the  incident  itself  must  always  be  depicted  in  the  same  manner. 

In  the  tombs,  on  the  other  hand,  the  favourite  subject  of  the  slaughter- 
ing of  the  animals  might  be  arranged  by  the  artist  in  nine  or  ten  different 
ways.  The  sacrificial  animal  might  lie  on  the  ground  and  the  servants 
be  busy  in  cutting  it  up.  In  this  picture  they  would  be  represented  in 
the  act  of  cutting  off  one  of  the  fore  legs  ; one  would  be  holding  it  straight 
up,  the  other  cutting  it  off.  A third  would  be  standing  close  by,  having 
paused  in  his  work  in  order  to  sharpen  his  flint  knife  anew.  Even  the 
superscriptions,  which  always  accompany  this  and  other  Egyptian  pictures, 
are  as  a rule  the  same  ; over  the  man  sharpening  his  knife  must  be  written 
“ the  sharpening  of  the  knife  by  the  side  of  the  slaughterer  ” ; the  one 
cutting  off  the  leg  must  admonish  his  companion  to  “ pull  firmly  ” ; and  the 
other  must  answer — ■“  I do  as  thou  thinkest  right.”  In  the  same  way 
amongst  the  pictures  of  agriculture,  those  of  sowing  and  threshing,  and  that 
of  leading  out  the  cattle,  are  most  frequently  repeated,  while  the  repre- 
sentations of  peasants  bringing  tribute,  and  of  the  deceased  and  his  wife 
before  the  table  of  offerings,  recur  again  and  again.  The  religious  pictures 
also  which  we  find  on  all  the  walls  of  the  temples  of  a later  period,  have 
doubtless  originated  from  a few  typical  representations  of  the  Old  Empire, 
though  the  latter  do  not  chance  to  have  been  preserved  to  us. 

The  art  of  the  Old  Empire  had  its  centre  at  the  Memphite  court  ; 
the  artists  of  that  town  having  raised  it  to  an  eminence  which  wins  our 
admiration  even  at  the  present  day.  In  the  provinces  however,  where 
there  was  little  demand  for  works  of  art  as  long  as  the  whole  state  was 
concentrated  in  the  court,  art  had  no  chance  to  develop,  and  the  tombs 
of  Upper  Egypt,  which  date  from  the  time  of  the  6th  dynasty,  are  mostly 
curious  barbarous  structures.2  After  the  fall  of  the  Old  Empire  this 
provincial  art  developed  further  in  its  own  way,  as  is  proved  by  the  works 

1 Thus  under  Dyn.  IV.  : L.  D.,  ii.  2 a,  c ; Dyn.  V.  : ib.  39  f ; Dyn.  VI.  : ib.  1 1 6 a. 

2 There  are  of  course  exceptions,  as  e.g.  the  tombs  of  Zawijet  el  meitin,  which  are  perhaps 
the  work  of  Memphite  artists,  but  as  a rule  everything  that  originates  in  Upper  Egypt  is  very 
rough. 


XVI 


THE  ELASTIC  ARTS 


403 


After  L.  D. , ii.  126.  Cp.  the  analogous  picture 
of  the  Old  Empire  in  chap,  xviii. 


of  art  of  the  1 ith  dynasty  period  found  at  Abydos,  which  are  smooth  and 
pretty  though  very  unskilful. 

The  reunion  of  the  kingdom  under  Amenemhe't  I.  gave  a great 
impulse  to  art.  The  pictures  which  we  have  of  the  time  of  the  Middle 
Empire,  especially  those  of  Beni 
Hasan  and  Siut,  are  equal  to  those 
of  the  old  Memphite  city  of  the 
dead,  and  are  evidently  by  their  style 
the  lineal  descendants  of  the  latter. 

All  the  conventional  laws  of  style 
which  we  noticed  in  the  older  works 
are  still  observed,1  and  in  the  same 
way  freedom  of  drawing  is  only 
allowed  in  secondary  figures.  In 
the  richer  and  more  lifelike  com- 
positions however,  a greater  differ- 
ence manifests  itself,  though  the  conventional  types  are  adhered  to  as  a 
rule.  For  instance,  a representation  of  the  felling  of  trees  is  given  in  the 
customary  manner,  with  goats  who  are  allowed  to  eat  the  foliage,  but 
instead  of  the  conventional  sycamores  with  two  animals  stretching  upwards 
on  either  side,  as  in  the  pictures  of  the  Old  Empire,  the  artist  has  made 
a pretty  group  of  swaying  palms,  with  the  sportive  goats  eagerly  jumping 
up  at  them." 

Though  the  art  of  the  New  Empire  was  occupied  chiefly  with  the  decora- 
tion of  large  expanses  of  wall  surface,  yet  it  followed 
in  a great  measure  the  old  paths.  One  innovation 
indeed  we  find, — the  artist  was  now  allowed  to  represent 
a figure  with  that  arm  in  advance  which  was  nearest 
to  the  spectator.  This  was  directly  contrary  to  the 
ancient  law  of  official  art.3  But  in  other  respects  art 
rather  retrograded  than  advanced,  for  the  effort  to  keep 
to  the  old  conventional  style  and  to  forbear  following 
the  ever-growing  impulse  in  a more  naturalistic  direc- 
tion, induced  artists  to  lay  more  stress  than  was  really 
needful  on  the  stiffness  and  unnaturalness  of  the 
ancient  style.  We  may  remark,  for  instance,  in  the 
temple  pictures  of  the  New  Empire,  how,  in  the 
drawing  of  the  hands,  the  points  of  the  fingers  are  bent  back  coquettishly, 
and  how  the  gods  and  the  kings  are  made  to  balance  whatever  they  present 
to  each  other  on  the  edge  of  their  hands.4  This  is  intentionally  and 
wilfully  contrary  to  nature,  a mannerism  in  art  ; to  the  artist  it  may  have 
appeared  a higher  and  more  ideal  form  than  any  other  ; we  of  the  modern 
world,  however,  have  no  reason  to  go  into  raptures  over  it. 

1 The  position  of  the  hands  however  in  the  figures  looking  to  the  left,  is  now  rightly  given. 

L.  D.,  ii.  121.  2 Dyn.  VI.  : L.  D.,  ii.  108,  111  ; Dyn.  XII.  : ib.  126. 

3 L.  D.,  iii.  9 f,  11  a,  14,  15,  etc.  4 E.g.  L.  D.,  iii.  7 b,  e,  14,  15,  17  c,  20  c,  67  a,  etc. 


404 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


It  was  quite  otherwise  with  art  which  was  not  officially  recognised;  the 
development  of  the  latter  we  can  admire  in  many  pictures  in  the  Theban 
tombs.  In  them  we  meet  with  fresh  bright  figures  boldly  drawn,  though, 
as  under  the  Old  and  the  Middle  Empire,  merely 
amongst  the  servants  and  slaves.  Asiatic  captives 
may  be  represented  according  to  the  will  of  the  artist, 
but  their  Egyptian  overseer  must  stand  there  in  stiff 
formality.1  The  half-nude  maiden  who  is  serving 
the  guests  may  be  represented  with  her  back  to  the 
spectator,  with  realistic  hair,  with  arms  drawn  in  per- 
spective, and  legs  which  set  at  nought  every  conven- 
tional rule,  but  the  lady  to  whom  she  presents  the 
wine  must  be  drawn  like  a puppet  of  ancient  form, 
for  she  belongs  to  the  upper  class.2  If  the  reader 
will  turn  back  to  the  picture  of  the  feast  on  p.  250  he 
will  admire  the  freedom  with  which  the  singers  and  the 
dancing  girls  are  drawn  ; the  artist  was  evidently 
allowed  a free  hand  with  these  equivocal  characters  ; 
in  fact  the  superstition  of  “good  manners  ” did  not 
here  constrain  him  to  do  violence  to  his  art. 

Fortunately  official  art  was  unable  always  entirely  to  withstand  the 
influence  of  this  freer  tendency,  and  in  pictures  which  otherwise  follow 
the  old  rules  we  find  little  concessions  to  the  newer  style.  This  impulse 
was  not  only  strictly  forbidden,  but  repressed  and  stifled  in  the  same  way 
as  the  religious  movement  which  stirred  the  people  at  the  time  of  the  1 8th 
dynasty.  Once  indeed  an  attempt  was  made  to  push  forward  this  freedom 
in  art  and  to  replace  the  strict  monumental  style  of  old  times  by  one  more 
realistic.  It  is  doubtless  not  accidental  that  this  attempt  at  reforming  art 
should  coincide  with  the  religious  reform  ; the  same  king  who,  by  incul- 
cating his  new  doctrine,  tried  to  remove  the  unnatural  oppression  which 
burdened  the  religion  of  the  country,  attempted  also  to  relieve  the  not  less 
unnatural  tension  under  which  art  languished.  A right  conception  lay 
at  the  root  of  both  attempts,  but  neither  had  any  permanent  result.  The 
violence  of  the  proceedings  of  the  monarch  doubtless  was  the  greatest 
impediment  to  them  ; on  the  one  hand  he  desired  entirely  to  exterminate 
the  old  gods,  on  the  other  hand  he  would  have  done  away  with  all  the 
dignity  and  restfulness  of  the  old  art,  and  allowed  it  even  to  verge  upon 
caricature. 

The  tendency  of  this  revolution  in  art  was  to  put  new  lifelike  pictures 
in  the  place  of  the  former  worn-out  representations  which  were  ever  being 
dished  up  anew.  Individual  figures  also  were  now  supposed  to  be  drawn 
from  life  so  that  in  that  way  their  positions  became  more  natural,  and  the 
drawing  of  their  limbs  more  correct. 

Formerly  the  king  had  been  represented  as  a demigod,  either  as  he 
stood  making  offerings  before  the  gods  of  his  country,  or  as  he  stabbed  a 

1 L.  D. , iii.  40.  2 L.  D.,  iii.  42  ; cp.  the  illustration  on  the  opposite  page. 


KING  MAKING  AN  OFFER- 
ING. Style  of  the  New 
Empire. 


XVI 


THE  PLASTIC  ARTS 


405 


prisoner,  or  seated  conventionally  on  his  throne  under  a canopy  ; now  the 
artists  gladly  emphasised  in  the  pictures  his  purely  human  side.  His  wife 
and  children  are  always  around  him  even  when  he  is  driving  to  the  temple 
or  praying  ; they  are  by  his  side  when  he  looks  out  of  the  window  of 
his  palace  ; they  mix  his  wine  for  him  as  he  rests  on  his  seat.  The 
children  of  the  Pharaoh  play  together  or  with  their  mother,  as  if  their 
divine  origin  were  completely  ignored.  The  details  of  these  pictures  are 
still  more  remarkable.  It  is  true  that  there  may  not  have  been  much 


SCENE  FROM  A FEAST. 

The  lady  in  strict  formal  style  : the  maid  (who  is  filling  her  ointment  bowl,  and  saying  to  her  : “ For 
thy  ka  ! celebrate  the  joyful  day")  is  drawn  unconventionally  (after  L.  D. , iii.  42). 


beauty  in  the  royal  family  of  Amenhotep,  and  the  king  and  queen — who 
probably  were  brother  and  sister — may  really  have  possessed  consumptive 
faces  and  elongated  necks,  pointed  elbows,  fat  bodies,  thick  ankles,  and 
thin  calves,  but  the  artists  who  had  to  draw  their  figures  need  not  have 
emphasised  these  unlovely  peculiarities  as  so  many  of  them  have  done. 
There  was  a happy  medium  between  the  old  conventional  royal  pictures 
and  these  caricatures  ; it  was  a fatal  misfortune  that  most  of  Chuen’eten’s 
artists  failed  to  find  it. 

They  often  overshot  their  mark  also  with  regard  to  the  positions  in 
which  they  represented  their  figures.  It  was  not  necessary  to  represent 
individual  figures  in  rapid  movement  without  any  reasonable  cause,  nor 


406 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


tojnake  their  limbs  move  in  wavy  lines.1 *  In  the  same  way  it  was  not 
necessary  to  represent  the  king  and  queen  seated  so  close  to  each  other, 
that  the  outlines  of  their  figures  are  almost  identical,  and  it  is  only 
from  the  arms,  which  are  placed  round  each  other,  that  we  can  under- 
stand the  meaning  of  the  picture." 
It  cannot  be  denied  that  finally  they 
only  substituted  one  affectation  for 
another ; they  drove  out  the  devil, 
but  through  Beelzebub,  the  chief  of 
the  devils.  Moreover  they  were  not 
able  to  break  with  all  the  evil  pre- 
judices of  the  old  art,  and  we  observe 
with  astonishment  that  persons  of 
the  lower  orders  still  maintain  their 
prior  claim  to  naturalistic  treatment: 
they  alone,  when  it  is  a question 
of  figures  in  profile,  have  their  arms 
correctly  drawn. 

Notwithstanding  our  sympathy 
with  this  new  impulse,  we  cannot  give 
an  entirely  favourable  opinion  with 
regard  to  the  revolution  in  art  under 
Chuen’eten,  though  we  must  acknow- 
ledge that  real  progress  was  made  in 
some  respects.  For  the  first  time  in 
the  history  of  Egyptian  art  we  meet 
with  a hand  drawn  correctly,  which  will  bend  from  the  wrist, 3 and  with  a 
foot  seen  from  the  outer  side  with  toes  which  belong  to  it.  4 It  is  a 
characteristic  fact  that  these  innovations  survived  the  reformation  of  the 
heretic  king,  and  are  often  to  be  seen  in  the  work  of  later  times.5 

In  the  sphere  of  art  as  in  that  of  religion,  the  victory  of  the  reaction 
was  equally  complete,  and  the  artists  of  later  times  returned  religiously  to 
the  old  traditions.  It  would  indeed  have  been  natural,  after  the  fall  of 
the  dreadful  heretic,  if  they  had  been  the  more  anxious  not  to  swerve 
from  true  orthodoxy  in  art.  Yet  soon  afterwards  a new  spirit  entered 
the  Egyptian  artists,  and  they  went  to  work  with  what  would  have  been 
considered  in  earlier  times  unprecedented  boldness.  This  renaissance  did 
not  spring  from  an  individual  fanatic,  but  was  due  to  the  tasks  imposed 
upon  the  artists  by  a victorious  race  of  monarchs,  ambitious  to  erect  vast 
buildings.  I refer  to  the  art  of  the  19th  dynasty,  which,  though  following 
to  a great  extent  the  old  lines,  yet  created  some  works  of  real  importance 
in  the  immense  battle  reliefs. 

The  type  of  these  battle  pictures  originates  in  those  which  celebrate 


chuen’eten  and  his  consort  seated  side 

BY  SIDE  ON  TWO  CHAIRS. 

After  L.  D. , iii.  99  b. 


1 Cp.  e.g.  L.  D.,  iii.  104,  108,  109  ; also  ib.  98,  99.  2 L.  D.,  iii.  99  b. 

3 L.  D.,  iii.  106.  4 L.  D.,  iii.  97  e,  99  b,  100. 

8 Hands  : L.  D.,  iii.  147  a,  206.  Feet : ib.  153,  169,  172  e,  201  a. 


XVI 


THE  PLASTIC  ARTS 


407 


the  victories  of  Sety  I.  The  composition  in  all  is  alike.  At  the  side  of 
the  picture  stands  the  gigantic  form  of  the  Pharaoh,  on  his  chariot  of  war 
drawn  by  his  prancing  steeds.  Before  him  is  a wild  confusion  of  little 
figures,  fugitives,  wounded  men,  horses  that  have  broken  loose,  and  smashed 
chariots,  amongst  which  the  monarch  flings  forth  his  arrows.  Behind,  on  a 
hill,  stands  the  fortress  close  to  which  the  battle  takes  place.  The  effect  of 
this  picture  lies  undeniably  in  the  contrast  between  the  powerful  form  of 
the  victor,  represented  by  the  artist  in  all  the  splendour  he  could  command, 
and  the  confused  crowd  of  the  conquered  foe.  The  calm  attitude  of  the 
Pharaoh  by  the  side  of  the  rapid  movement  of  the  enemy,  illustrates  in,  I 
might  almost  say,  an  ingenious  way,  the  irresistible  power  of  the  king,  who 
drives  the  crowd  of  his  feeble  enemies  before  him  as  a hawk  drives  a 
swarm  of  sparrows.  If  we  consider  the  subject  closer,  we  shall  have 
somewhat  to  modify  our  favourable  decision,  for,  however  pleasing  we 
find  the  easy  composed  bearing  of  the  king,1  it  is  scarcely  possible  to 
admire  the  representations  of  the  enemy.  If  we  look  at  the  details,  the 
false  anatomy  of  the  figures  is  only  too  obvious,  while  considered  as  a 
whole,  the  impression  produced  has  been  cynically  compared  to  a ragout 
of  frogs.  The  essential  reason  of  this  confused  impression  is  that  the 
artists  of  the  19th  dynasty  no  longer  observed  the  careful  procedure  of 
their  predecessors,  who  arranged  any  complicated  incident  in  a row  of 
parallel  lines  ; they  wished  on  the  other  hand  to  draw  a medley  as  a 
medley,  and  even  if  they  succeeded  in  this  difficult  experiment  when  they 
attempted  to  draw  a hunt  (e.g.  that  given  above,  p.  241),  yet  a battle 
scene  was  beyond  their  powers. 

Ramses  II.  gave  the  artists  who  had  to  perpetuate  his  deeds  a yet 
harder  task  to  perform.  The}"  had  not  only  to  show  in  half- symbolic 
manner  the  king  and  his  foes,  but  faithfully  and  historically  to  portray  for 
posterity  special  events  in  real  battles.  We  cannot  be  surprised  that  the 
execution  of  these  pictures  is  far  behind  the  conception.  Many  details 
are  however  quite  worthy  of  our  admiration  — for  instance,  there  is  a 
dying  horse  which  is  excellently  drawn  ;2  a representation  of  camp-life  that 
is  full  of  humour,3  but  there  is  no  attempt  at  unity  of  composition.  Again 
and  again  we  may  see  soldiers  marching  and  soldiers  formed  in  square, 
enemies  who  have  been  shot  and  enemies  drowning,  chariots  attacking  and 
chariots  at  rest,  yet  no  uniform  picture.  The  fine  contrast  also  between 
the  Pharaoh  storming  forward,  and  the  king  of  the  Cheta  hesitating  in  the 
midst  of  his  troops,  which  occurs  in  the  most  extensive  of  these  pictures,4 
does  not  impress  us  much  in  the  midst  of  all  this  confusion  of  detail. 

It  was,  nevertheless,  a great  step  in  advance  for  Egyptian  art  when 
these  battle  pictures,  and  the  smaller  representations  of  like  nature  and 
style,5  were  admitted  into  the  official  cycle  of  pictures.  We  might  also 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  127  a,  130  a,  and  other  examples.  2 L.  D.,  iii.  164-165. 

3 lb.  I53-I55-  4 lb.  157-161. 

0 E. g.  the  favourite  representation  of  the  presentation  of  the  captives:  L.  D. , iii.  156,  1S8  a, 

ib.  2 1 1 . 


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XVI 


THE  PLASTIC  ARTS 


409 


expect  that  as  the  realistic  impulse  in  the  country  was  stronger  than  it 
had  ever  been  before,1  art  itself  would  now  at  last  finally  break  the  fetters 
she  had  worn  for  2000  years.  This  was  not  however  the  case  ; on  the 
contrary,  this  naturalistic  impulse  soon  died  out,  and  after  the  time  of 
the  twentieth  dynasty  all  the  figures  are  again  modelled  according  to  the 
old  traditions.  There  were  political  reasons  for  this  retrogression  of  art  ; 
the  high  priests  of  Amon,  who  seized  the  power  after  the  fall  of  the 
Ramessides,  established  anew  the  orthodoxy  of  art  as  well  as  the  orthodoxy 
of  religion.  Pious  artists  of  their  time  doubtless  considered  it  sinful  even 
to  wish  to  draw  otherwise  than  the  faithful  of  old  times  — in  modern 
days  we  also  find  a similar  superstition  in  many  churches. 

The  history  of  the  development  of  the  one  half  of  Egyptian  art,  as 
we  have  sketched  it  above,  is  also  typical  of  that  of  the  other  half.  The 
art  of  sculpture  also  had  to  go  through  the  same  troubles  as  that  of 
drawing,  except  that  the  process  of  development  was  more  simple  on 
account  of  its  being  less  widely  practised,  and  having  less  important 
works  to  produce. 

The  art  of  sculpture  in  Egypt  was,  broadly  speaking,  required  to 
produce  two  classes  of  works  of  art — portrait  statues  for  the  worship  of 
the  deceased,  and  statues  of  gods,  kings,  and  sacred  animals,  for  the 
decoration  of  the  temples.  In  both  cases  therefore  the  figures  in  ques- 
tion had  to  be  in  solemn,  formal  positions,  and  as  there  is  not  much 
variation  in  these  positions,  the  Egyptian  sculptor  from  the  outset  had  a 
very  narrow  scope.  Even  within  this  sphere  his  freedom  of  action 
was  much  limited,  for  from  the  time  of  the  first  artistic  attempts,  there 
existed  hard  - and  - fast  conceptions  about  the  right  way  to  sculpture 
a standing  or  a seated  figure — conceptions  which  concerned  even  the 
smallest  details,  and  were  considered  as  the  standard.  Amongst  the 
oldest  statues  therefore,  we  rarely  find  more  than  two  types.  The  first 
represented  the  figure  seated  stiffly  on  a solid  square  seat  ; the  eyes  look 
straight  forward,  the  hands  are  placed  on  the  knees,  the  right  one  closed, 
the  left  spread  out  flat.  In  the  other  position  also  the  figure  is  standing 
in  the  stiffest  attitude  ; the  left  foot  is  advanced,'1  the  arms  hang  straight 
down  by  the  sides  with  the  fists  clenched,  or  the  hands  may  hold  the 
short  and  the  long  sceptre.  From  technical  reasons  the  Egyptians  rarely 
ventured  to  sculpture  their  statues  quite  free  ; 3 seated  figures  are  generally 
made  to  lean  against  a slab,  and  standing  ones  always  have  a pillar  at  the 
back  as  a prop.  In  the  same  way  they  did  not  dare  quite  to  separate  the 
arms  and  legs  from  the  body,  but  left  connecting  pieces  which  were 
painted  black  between  the  body  and  the  pillar  behind.  A little  piece 

1 We  may  compare  pictures  such  as  L.  L).,  iii.  2 h (which  insist  upon  the  contrast  between  the 
men  who  are  boldly  drawn  and  the  puppets  of  gods)  ; the  beautiful  singers,  ib.  236  ; the  palace 
reliefs,  ib.  208,  the  Turin  obscene  papyrus,  and  others  besides. 

2 Women  and  children  however  stand  with  their  feet  together  ; this  was  probably  considered 
the  more  modest  position. 

3 The  wooden  statues  are  almost  the  only  exceptions  ; they  are  made  quite  free,  and  their  arms 
and  legs  are  not  joined  together. 


4io 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


was  also  left  in  the  hollow  of  the  loosely-closed  hand, — this  has  often 
erroneously  been  supposed  to  be  a short  stick. 

The  treatment  of  the  detail  was  as  strictly  determined  as  that  of  the 
whole.  Almost  every  part  of  the  body  had  its  conventional  style  of 
reproduction,  which  does  not  at  all  always  seem  to  us  to  be  the  best.  The 
calves  of  the  legs  were  indicated  by  a succession  of  smooth  surfaces  which 
give  their  form  very  imperfectly  ; the  collar-bone,  which  was  rarely  omitted 
even  in  the  most  hasty  work,  is  generally  in  the  wrong  place,  the  fingers 
of  an  outstretched  hand  always  resemble  four  smooth  little  sticks,  and 
there  is  no  indication  whatever  of  the  joints.  These  forms  were  as  deeply 
engrained  in  the  heart  of  the  Egyptian  artist  as  the  conventional  forms 
in  drawing  ; in  the  statues  the  hand  and  the  calf  of  the  leg  had  to  be 
thus  carved,  and  thus  only,  and  the  slightest  deviation  would  have  been 
felt  to  be  wrong. 

Originally  the  head  was  also  included  in  this  conventional  treatment, 

for  in  the  faces  of  many  of  the  statues  there 
can  be  no  question  of  portraiture.  Here 
however  individual  treatment  first  forced  its 
way,  and  in  many  of  the  statues  of  the 
fourth  dynasty  we  find  an  entirely  conven- 
tional body  with  a head  which  is  evidently 
intended  to  have  individual  features.  A 
little  later  many  artists  began  to  treat  the 
body  also  from  the  portrait  standard  ; they 
would  represent  for  instance,  in  a few  touches, 
the  hanging  paunch  of  a fat  old  man.  In 
the  works  of  the  fifth  dynasty  especially, 
the  reproduction  of  the  forms  of  the  body 
is  brought  to  such  perfection,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  face  is  so  lifelike  through  the 
special  accentuation  of  its  characteristic 
features,  and  through  the  introduction  of 
crystal  eyeballs,  that  these  works  of  art 
rightly  belong  to  the  chefs  d'ceuvre  of  all 
times  and  nations.  Statues  like  the  so-called 
Sheikh  el  beled  (p.  30)  and  that  of  his 
wife  at  Gizeh,  that  of  the  Red  Scribe  (p. 
33),  and  that  of  Peh-er-nefr  at  Paris,  or 
that  of  the  little  figure  of  a dwarf  at  Gizeh  (a  representation  of  which  is 
given  here),  strike  every  unprejudiced  person  with  wonder. 

The  above-mentioned  figure  of  the  scribe  shows  that  the  artists  of 
the  fifth  dynasty  were  no  longer  bound  down  by  the  two  conventional 
types  of  the  standing  and  seated  figure.  PTom  the  time  of  the  5 th  dynasty 
the  artist  was  allowed  to  represent  the  deceased  as  he  squatted  on  the 
ground  with  his  legs  crossed  underneath  him,  or,  as  in  the  above  example, 
in  the  usual  posture  of  an  official  writing  down  a deed  on  a roll  of  papyrus. 


THE  DWARF  CHNEM(?)HOTEP 
(after  Perrot-Chipiez). 


XVI 


THE  PLASTIC  ARTS 


41 1 


Groups  were  even  attempted  ; these  generally  represented  the  deceased 
embraced  by  his  wife  and  son.  The  custom  of  placing  figures  of  domestic 
servants  in  the  tomb  with  the  deceased  gave  artists  a good  field  for  their 
art  as  regards  figures  from  the  life  ; we  may  quote  as  examples  the  figures 
of  the  women  pounding  grain  and  kneading  dough  (p.  1 90). 

As  regards  the  period  of  the  Old  Empire,  we  have  only  two  examples 
of  that  other  branch  of  Egyptian  sculpture  which  played  such  an  important 
part  in  later  times,  viz.  royal  statues.  These  are  two  statues  of  King 
Chafre’  the  builder  of  the  second  pyramid,  which  were  found  by  Mariette 
in  a very  old  temple  situate  not  far  from  the  great  Sphinx.  They 
represent  (as  the  reader  may  see  from  the  illustration  p.  38  of  the 
larger  of  the  two)  the  monarch  in  the  conventional  attitude  of  seated 
figures  ; the  head-gear  and  the  throne  adorned  with  lions  alone  show 
that  the  figure  represents  the  Pharaoh.  The  face  is  evidently  a portrait, 
and  indeed  one  statue  represents  the  king  as  an  older  man  than  the  other  ; 
we  can  scarcely  say  the  same  of  the  body,  for  though  it  is  indeed  most 
excellent  as  a work  of  art,  it  is  treated  in  the  usual  conventional  manner. 
One  of  these  statues  is  also  remarkable  for  its  size  ; it  is  larger  than  life- 
size,  whilst  all  the  statues  of  private  individuals  of  that  time  are  at  most 
life-size,  and  indeed  as  a rule  much  smaller. 

Though  as  a whole  we  estimate  the  sculpture  of  the  Old  Empire  very 
highly,  especially  in  its  freer  development  under  the  5th  dynasty,  yet  we 
would  guard  ourselves  on  the  other  hand  from  an  over-appreciation  of  its 
worth.  We  must  not,  as  is  so  often  the  case,  judge  this  art  merely  from 
the  masterpieces,  which  really  form  the  exceptions.  The  bulk  of  the 
statues  of  this  time  deserve  only  moderate  admiration,  and  many  are 
decidedly  bad  ; even  in  those  old  days  good  artists  were  evidently  few 
and  far  between. 

The  sculpture  of  the  Middle  Empire  followed  essentially  the  same 
lines,  in  fact  the  development  of  the  statuary  art  in  Egypt  evolved  itself 
within  very  narrow  limits.  The  statues  of  private  individuals  remind  us 
of  the  realistic  figures  of  the  5th  dynasty  ; we  also  find  during  this  period 
figures  with  dense  unimaginative  faces  and  thick  bodies,  as  well  as  groups 
of  three  or  four  figures,  mostly  worked  in  very  hasty  style.  The  royal 
colossi,  on  the  contrary,  keep  to  the  strict  idealistic  type  and  make  no 
concession  to  the  truth  of  nature.  They  were  intended  to  serve  merely 
as  part  of  the  architecture  of  the  temples,  and  were  executed  from  a purely 
decorative  point  of  view,  as  we  see  from  the  intentional  false  position  of  the 
ears.  We  must  except  from  this  decision  one  remarkable  group  of  royal 
statues,  viz.  the  figures  we  mentioned  above  (p.  40)  with  the  un-Egyptian 
faces.  The  manner  in  which  the  artist  has  given  these  foreign  features, 
without  falling  into  the  impending  danger  of  caricature,  deserves  our 
unqualified  admiration,  as  well  as  the  remarkable  way  in  which  the  no 
less  foreign  style  of  wearing  the  hair  and  beard  is  represented. 

1 he  number  of  works  of  sculpture  extant  belonging  to  the  New 
Empire  is  enormous  ; they  are  for  the  greater  part  sculptures  of  the 


412 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


decorative  kind.  The  colossi,  which  were  erected  at  this  time  in  front  of 
the  temples,  were  of  immense  size — one  is  55,  another  42  feet  high — 
and  the  numberless  statues  with  which  the  sanctuaries  were  peopled — a 
temple  at  Karnak  built  by  Amenhotep  III.  contained  several  hundred 
life-size  statues  of  the  lioness-headed  goddess  Sechmet — all  these  are 
almost  more  the  work  of  the  artisan  than  of  the  artist.  The  ease  with 
which  these  immense  blocks  of  stone  were  mastered  is  certainly  marvellous, 
but  it  is  rather  the  technical  work  of  the  sculptor  which  astonishes  us 
than  the  spirit  of  the  artist,  which  indeed  is  almost  absent.  The  head 
of  the  colossus  was  certainly  a portrait,  but  as  a rule  so  idealised  and 
confused  that  it  makes  little  impression  on  us.  The  body  was  sculptured 
quite  in  the  old  traditional  style,  with  bad  calves  to  the  legs,  and  still 
worse  hands,  and,  what  strikes  us  as  especially  disagreeable  in  a colossus, 
the  modelling  of  the  body  was  not  carried  out  throughout.  If  we  now  turn 
aside  from  these  works,  which  were  made  by  the  dozen  as  the  architect 
required  them,  and  consider  the  comparatively  small  number  of  real  works 
of  art  which  have  come  down  to  us  from  the  time  of  the  New  Empire, 
our  opinion  of  the  art  of  that  period  will  be  far  more  favourable. 

The  colossal  head  of  Amenhotep  III.  in  London,  which  expresses  the 
coarse  features  of  this  monarch  ; the  pleasing  smiling  head  of  a queen  at 
Gizeh,  which  is  now  thought  to  represent  the  consort  of  Haremheb  ; the 
beautiful  statue  of  Ramses  II.  at  Turin  (see  p.  48),  which  from  the  non- 
archaistic  costume  was  evidently  taken  from  life;  these  are  works  of  art 
which  are  not  valuable  merely  as  pieces  of  decoration.  , We  have  also  one 
small  statue  of  the  time  of  the  attempted  reformation  under  Chuen’eten, 
(see  p.  45)  which  shows  us  that  a true  artist  could  discern  the  good  qualities 
of  this  new  royal  style. 

Amongst  the  statues  of  private  individuals  under  the  New  Empire, 
apart  from  the  number  of  mechanical  works,  there  are  a few  figures  at  any 
rate,  especially  amongst  the  wooden  statues,  that  are  very  interesting.  The 
group  of  parents  and  children  is  again  a favourite  subject  ; a new  motive 
also  came  in  under  the  18th  dynasty  for  single  figures:  the  man  squats 
on  a footstool  on  the  ground,  and  wraps  himself  up  in  his  garment  in 
such  a way  that  the  head  and  hands  only  are  visible.  We  cannot  deny 
however,  that  even  in  these  good  statues  of  the  New  Empire,  the  rich 
clothes  and  complicated  coiffures  are  often  worked  out  with  even  more 
care  than  the  face  ; and  we  must  not  let  the  fact  pass  uncensured,  that  the 
traditional  faults  of  the  Egyptian  sculptors,  especially  the  wretched  hands, 
are  still  to  be  found  even  in  the  otherwise  good  work  of  this  period. 

It  is  really  necessary  to  have  a certain  education  of  the  eye  in  order  to 
estimate  Egyptian  works  of  art  at  their  real  value,  owing  to  the  peculi- 
arities of  style  that  are  inherent  in  most  of  them.  The  most  inexperienced 
of  us  however  can  appreciate  one  of  their  qualities — the  technical.  1 he 
Egyptians  carried  the  mastery  of  material  further  perhaps  than  any  other 
nation  ; they  knew  how  to  conquer  stone  that  gave  the  greatest  resistance, 
viz.  the  red  and  black  granite  and  even  the  diorite,  which  is  as  hard  as  iron. 


XVI 


THE  PLASTIC  ARTS 


4i3 


The  sharply  - cut  details  and  the  softness  of  the  surfaces  which  these 
sculptors  attained  in  such  a material,  and  the  splendid  polish  which  they 
gave  it,  can  scarcely  be  emulated  by  us  modern  folk,  even  with  all  the 
means  at  our  command.  This  technical  skill  rose  perhaps  to  its  highest 
point  of  excellence  under  the  New  Empire,  though  many  artists  under 
the  4th  and  5th  dynasties  were  able  to  work  wonders  in  this  respect,  as 
is  shown  by  the  diorite  statue  of  King  Chafre  and  a little  statue  of  the 
same  material  in  the  Berlin  collection. 

Nevertheless,  material  was  not  a matter  of  indifference  to  the  Egyptian 
sculptor.  It  is  not  an  accident  that  by  far  the  best  statues  which  we 
possess  are  executed  in  wood  and  limestone  ; in  the  long  and  wearisome 
work  of  mastering  granite  and  diorite,  much  of  the  artist’s  spirit  was 
expended  and  lost.  The  Egyptian  knew  this  himself,  and  when,  especially 
for  public  monuments,  he  nevertheless  chose  the  hardest  stone,  it  was 
for  reasons  of  another  kind.  On  the  one  hand  he  wished  to  employ 
“ eternal  stones,”  which  would  ensure  unlimited  duration  to  the  monument, 
and  therewith  to  the  name  and  image  of  the  monarch  it  commemorated  ; on 
the  other  hand  he  rejoiced  in  the  beautiful  colour  which  these  noble  species 
of  stone  exhibited  when  well  polished.  The  Egyptians  showed  their 
appreciation  of  this  quality  by  excepting  this  hard  stone  from  the  universal 
rule  to  which  other  materials  were  subject.  The  former  alone  remained 
unpainted.1  The  painting  of  all  statues,  reliefs,  and  decoration  appeared 
to  the  Egyptians  to  be  a matter  of  course,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the 
above  valuable  species  of  stone,  they  scarcely  allowed  any  material  to  go 
unpainted.  The  Egyptian  sculptures  and  buildings  in  their  present 
uncoloured  state  give  us  therefore  a very  different  impression  from  that 
which  was  originally  intended  by  those  who  designed  them  ; it  remains 
a question  whether  the  change  is  to  their  disadvantage. 

I have  already  remarked  that  even  modern  artists  scarcely  understand 
the  treatment  of  stone  as  well  as  the  Egyptians.  This  is  the  more  remark- 
able as  the  latter  worked  with  the  most  primitive  tools  ; their  execution  was 
due  entirely  to  their  inexhaustible  patience.  All  the  reliefs  as  well  as  the 
statues  were  executed  with  a little  metal  chisel  fixed  into  a wooden  handle, 
and  with  a wooden  mallet,'2  whilst  the  polishing  was  produced  by  beating  and 
rubbing  with  pieces  of  quartz.3  Even  if  they  supplemented  these  imperfect 
tools  by  all  manner  of  contrivances,  the  work  must  still  have  been  very 
troublesome  and  lengthy.  A few  unfinished  statues  prove  to  us  that  this 
was  the  case  ; 4 for  limestone  alone  they  could  use  larger  mallets  in  order 
to  obtain  the  desired  form,  but  with  the  hard  stone  they  had  to  detach 
tiny  little  pieces  with  a pointed  chisel. 

The  Egyptian  sculptors  also  showed  great  skill  in  the  way  in  which 
they  helped  out  the  deficiencies  of  a bad  material.  They  had  plenty  of 

1 As  a rule,  with  these  hard  materials,  at  most  the  drapery  alone  might  be  coloured. 

- Perrot,  755  ; Ros.  mon.  civ.,  46,  4,  9,  1 1 ; 48,  2,  49,  2. 

3 Beating  with  two  stones  : L.  D.,  iii.  41  (=  Ros.  mon.  civ.,  47) ; Polishing  : Perrot,  755,  and 
frequently. 

4 Gizeh,  5005,  5008,  and  two  others  also  there. 


414 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


opportunity  to  do  this,  for  a mastabah  had  frequently  to  be  built  of  the 
coarse  Memphite  limestone,  or  a tomb  had  to  be  excavated  in  the  side  of 
a rock  where  the  stone  was  too  crumbly  to  take  any  fine  carving.  In 
such  cases  the  sculptors  chiselled  their  reliefs  or  their  statues  in  the  roughest 
fashion,  and  then  overlaid  this  rough  carving  with  a layer  of  fine  stucco, 
which  would  take  the  detail  of  the  forms.  They  covered  the  larger 
wooden  sculptures  also  with  a similar  stucco,  as  it  was  difficult  to  get  as 
good  a surface  on  the  knotty  sycamore  wood  as  was  required  for  the 
reception  of  the  colouring  matter. 

The  history  of  art  in  Egypt  will  always  be  deficient  in  one  respect. 
It  is  true  that  we  can  recognise  which  works  belong  to  one  period  or  to  one 
school,  and  that  now  and  then  we  may  think  we  recognise  one  hand  in 
two  different  works,1  but  more  than  this  we  can  scarcely  ever  hope  to 


SCULPTORS  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  5TH  DYNASTY. 
From  the  tomb  of  T'y.  (After  Perrot-Chipiez. ) 


know  ; the  artists  themselves  are  quite  lost  to  us.  In  a few  cases  only 
we  find  painters  or  sculptors  with  their  names  annexed,  represented 
amongst  the  secondary  figures  in  a tomb,  and  we  then  suspect  that  these 
people  were  the  artists  of  that  tomb  itself,  and  have  thus  perpetuated 
themselves  in  it.  Thus  for  instance,  in  the  tomb  of  the  superintendent 
of  the  property  of  the  mother  of  Chuen'eten,  ’Elite  the  chief  sculptor  of 
this  lady  is  represented  in  the  act  of  finishing  the  painting  of  a statue  of 
the  princess  Bekt'eten."  If  we  may  take  for  granted  that  he  was  employed 
to  decorate  this  tomb,  we  then  know  the  name  of  the  artist  of  a very 
characteristic  piece  of  work.  As  we  have  said  however,  these  conclusions 
are  but  hypotheses,  and  in  Egypt  the  names  of  the  artists  with  their 
distinctive  works  of  art  are  not  to  be  found. 

It  would  be  wrong  to  conclude  however,  that  the  Egyptians  took 
less  pride  in  their  works  of  art  than  the  Greeks.  In  the  school-books  of 
the  learned  scribes  much  contempt  is  indeed  expressed  for  this  foolish 

1 Thus  the  representations  in  the  Manofer  tomb  at  Berlin  are  evidently  related  to  those  of  the 
same  period  in  the  tomb  of  Ptahhotep.  2 L.  D.,  iii.  too  a. 


XVI 


THE  PLASTIC  ARTS 


4i5 


business,1  but  in  real  life  the  social  position  of  artists  was  not,  as  a rule, 
at  all  a humble  one.  Under  the  Old  Empire  the  high  priest  of  Memphis 
was  considered  as  their  chief,  in  fact  he  bore  the  title  of  “ chief  leader  of 
the  artists,”  and  really  exer- 
cised this  office."  It  is  quite 
explicable  that  the  duties  of 
this  high  ecclesiastic  com- 
prehended the  care  of  art, 
for  as  his  god  was  considered 
the  artist  amongst  the  gods, 
so  the  chief  servant  of  Ptah 
would  also  necessarily  be  the 
chief  artist,  just  as  the  priests 
of  the  goddess  of  truth  were 
at  the  same  time  the  guardians 
of  justice.  The  artists  of  lower 
rank  under  the  Old  Empire 
also  gladly  called  themselves 
after  their  divine  prototype.3 
If  we  could  deduce  any  facts 
from  the  priestly  titles  of 
later  times,  we  might  con- 

’eut’e,  the  chief  sculptor  of  the  queen-mother 
elude  that  this  was  also  the  tey.  (After  L.  D.,  iii.  100.) 

case  at  all  periods,  for  as 

long  as  there  existed  a high  priest  of  Ptah,  he  was  called  the  “ chief 
leader  of  the  artists.”  We  can  scarcely  believe  however  that  this  was 
so  ; the  artists  were  differently  organised  in  later  times,  although  Ptah 
of  Memphis  still  remained  their  patron  genius.4 

In  the  Middle  Empire,  under  the  eleventh  dynasty,  we  meet  with 
Mertesen,  “ superintendent  of  the  artists,  the  painter,  and  sculptor,”  ' who 
boasts  of  his  special  artistic  power.  He  was  “ an  artist,  wise  in  his  art, 
and  appearing  as  first  in  that  which  he  knew  ” ; he  understood  how  to 
indicate  that  his  figures  were  walking  or  standing  still,  and  was  possessed 
of  secrets  of  technical  skill.6  In  addition  to  Mertesen,  we  hear  of  several 
painters  of  about  this  period,'  for  instance,  a special  “ painter  in  the  royal 


1 Sail.,  2,  4,  6,  8 ; ib.  5,  1.  2 Cp.  p.  291. 

3 Cp.  e.g.  the  lists  of  artists  : L.  D.,  ii.  115  b,  c,  g. 

4 In  the  tomb  of  Paser,  and  therefore  at  Thebes,  an  artist  prays  to  Ptah  for  his  assistance,  and 
Paser  himself,  at  the  sight  of  a finished  statue,  cries,  “ praised  be  Ptah.”  (From  my  own  copy.)  On 
the  painter’s  palette  of  Amenuahsu,  artist  of  the  temple  of  Anion,  found  at  Thebes,  the  owner  prays 
to  the  Ptah  of  Menes  and  to  the  Ptah  of  Ramses  II.  (Berlin,  6764).  This  can  scarcely  be  accidental. 


A sculptor  is  called  (3,  cp.  the  superscription  of  the  pictures  : Ros.  mon.  civ.,  46,  4,  9,  11  ; 

^ (L.  D. , ii.  100  a,  132  r,  and  in  other  places),  seems 

tN B 

6 Louvre,  C.  14. 


47,  1 ; 49,  2.  Another  term 
to  signify  the  same. 


, Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  574,  699.  The  signification  of  this  word  and  of  others 


1 1 1 


4 1 6 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAI*. 


house,”  1 and  another  who  calls  himself  the  superintendent  of  the  necropolis 
of  Abydos  ; this  place  was  therefore  probably  the  sphere  of  his  work.2 
Under  the  New  Empire  we  find  a “ superintendent  of  all  the  artists  of  the 
king,”  and  in  his  tomb  are  represented  all  the  workshops  in  which  all  the 
necessary  architectural  parts  were  carved  and  painted  “ for  all  the  build-* 
ings  which  were  under  his  superintendence.”  3 As  a rule,  the  artists  of  this 
time  belonged  to  the  department  of  the  treasury,4  and  the  chief  royal 
“ superintendent  of  the  house  of  silver  ” reckoned  amongst  his  officials  two 
“ deputies  of  the  house  of  silver,”  and  with  them  also  two  “ deputies  of 
the  artists  of  the  house  of  silver,”  also  a “ superintendent  of  the  works  in 
the  place  of  eternity  ” (i.e.  in  the  necropolis) — who  was  at  the  same  time 
“ superintendent  of  the  sculptors,” — a “ scribe  of  the  painters,”  a “ chief  of 
the  painters,”  and  an  “architect  in  the  royal  house  of  silver.”5  The 
administration  of  the  great  temple  of  Amon  comes  forward  prominently 
by  the  side  of  that  of  the  state  ; in  this  department,  as  in  all  others,  the 
Theban  god  had  his  own  “ painters,”  6 and  “ chief  of  the  painters,”7  “ sculp- 
tors,” and  “ chief  of  the  sculptors,”  8 and  a crowd  of  other  artists,  who,  as  we 
have  seen  above  (p.  294),  were  under  the  supervision  of  the  second  prophet. 
As  I have  already  remarked,  many  artists  belonged  to  the  upper  classes  ; 
at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  dynasty  two  “ painters  of  Amon  ” were 
members  of  the  distinguished  nomarch  family  of  El  Kab,9  and  under  the 
twentieth  dynasty  a painter  was  father-in-law  to  a deputy-governor  of 
Nubia.10  It  is  also  interesting  to  see  how  tenaciously  many  families  kept 
to  the  artistic  profession.  The  office  of  “chief  of  the  painters  of  Amon  ” 
remained  for  seven  generations  in  one  family,11  and  that  of  his  “ chief  sculp- 
tor ” was  certainly  inherited  from  the  father  by  the  son  and  the  grandson  ; 12 
in  both  cases  the  younger  sons  of  the  family  were  also  painters  and 
sculptors.  The  inheritance  of  a profession  was  specially  an  Egyptian 
custom,  but  I know  of  no  example  on  record  in  which  it  was  carried  on 
for  such  a length  of  time  as  in  the  case  of  the  painter  mentioned  above, 
at  any  rate  it  is  never  brought  so  prominently  forward  in  other  examples. 
It  cannot  be  purely  accidental  that  the  oldest  of  the  long  genealogies 
that  we  possess  belongs  to  a family  of  artists  ; the  members  of  this 
family  evidently  attached  importance  to  the  fact  that  pure  art- — i.e.  the  art 
described  above,  the  art  of  rigid  tradition — was  hereditary  in  their  family. 

To  the  above  sketch  of  sculpture  and  painting  I wish  to  add  a 
few  further  remarks  on  Egyptian  architecture  and  objects  of  art.  The 

is  elucidated  by  the  inscriptions  about  painting  in  the  tomb  of  Paser  at  Thebes,  and  by  those  above 
the  pictures  : Berend,  Princip.  monum.  du  musee  Eg.  de  P'lorence,  I.  pi.  x.,  as  well  as  Ros.  mon. 

civ.,  63.  Nevertheless  we  can  also  say  j(joj  alone,  Ros.  mon.  civ.,  46,  49. 

I Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  567.  - lb.  366.  3 L.  D.,  iii.  26.  Another:  Liebl.,  944. 

4 Cp.  the  letter  An.,  4,  16,  Rs.  about  the  works  of  repair  in  the  palace. 

5 L.  D.,  iii.  241,  242.  The  smn  evidently  stands  for  msn  “sculptor.” 

6 L.  D.,  iii.  12  d ; Liebl.,  553,  558,  720.  “ Painters  of  Amon  for  the  necropolis,”  ib.  689. 

7 Liebl.,  553.  s Liebl.,  623.  9 L.  D.,  iii.  12  d;  Liebl.,  558. 

10  L.  D.,  iii.  229  a,  at  the  same  time  a priest. 

II  Liebl.,  553,  probably,  nevertheless,  of  the  New  Empire?  12  Liebl.,  623. 


XVI 


THE  PLASTIC  ARTS 


4'7 


limits  of  this  work  do  not  allow  me  to  enter  fully  upon  the  wide  subject 
of  Egyptian  architecture,  and  the  most  important  matters  concerning 
the  plans  of  houses,  temples,  and  tombs  have  already  been  treated  (see 
pp.  17 1 ff.,  280  ff.,  285  ff.,  310  ff.).  What  remains  to  be  described  is 
principally  the  ornamental  branch  of  this  art. 

The  natural  building  material  of  Egypt  is  the  Nile  mud  ; this 
substance  can  be  easily  fashioned  into  any  shape,  and  when  dried  in  the  sun 
possesses  no  little  strength,  and  is  the  more  enduring  as  under  that  happy 
sky  it  is  rarely  exposed  to  any  rain.  In  Egypt  little  mud  huts  are  still  to 
be  seen  in  country  places,  and  there  seems  no  doubt  that  a similar  barbaric, 
rough  style  of  building  was  that  most  anciently  practised  in  Egypt.  In 
historic  times  Egyptian  architecture  possesses,  at  any  rate,  some  forms  which 
are  apparently  derived  from  mud  buildings  of  this  kind.  The  outer  walls 
of  the  buildings  diminish  in  size  towards  the  top,  evidently  because  in  a 
mud  wall  greater  strength  is  required  in  the  lower  part  to  give  due 


support.  The  corners  of  the  building  are  formed  by  round  posts  ; these 
were  to  protect  it  from  crumbling,  a danger  which,  without  this  precaution, 
would  be  inevitable  at  the  corners  of  a mud  building.  In  the  same  way 
the  upper  edge  of  the  wall  is  protected  by  a similar  beam,  without  which 
the  rafters  would  crush  in  the  soft  walls.  The  roof  itself  however,  with 
its  hollow  recess,  was  generally  constructed,  as  in  modern  days,  of  trunks  of 
wood,  covered  in  on  the  outside  with  a layer  of  mud.  The  short  marks 
which  we  see  side  by  side  in  the  hollow  recess,  may  possibly  represent  the 
sloping  ends  of  the  beams,1  just  as  the  horizontal  frame  which  encloses 
them  above  represents  the  coating  of  mud. 

In  very  early  times  the  Egyptians  discovered  that  they  could  construct 
the  walls  with  far  greater  ease  and  safety,  if  they  converted  the  mud  into 
rectangular  pieces  of  a definite  size,  i.e.  into  bricks.  Brick  buildings, 
belonging  to  all  ages  of  Egyptian  history,  still  exist,  but  as  yet  they  have 
not  attracted  due  attention.  With  few  exceptions  the  bricks  are  unburnt, 
and  are  mixed  with  short  pieces  of  straw  ; in  the  periods  with  which  we 
are  concerned  their  size  is  always  a matter  to  be  taken  into  account— they 
are  generally  1 5 inches  x 7 inches  x 4^  inches.2 

1 They  do  not  form  a complete  circle,  for  in  order  to  rest  firmly  on  the  corner  beam,  their  under 
sides  had  to  be  cut  off. 

- The  small  bricks  generally  belong  to  quite  late  times,  and  the  earliest  burnt  bricks  as  a rule  to 
the  Middle  Ages. 


4i8 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


The  above  interesting  representation1  of  the  time  of  the  18th  dynasty 
shows  us  how  they  prepared  the  bricks.  The  storehouses  of  the  great 
temple  of  Amon  could  no  longer  contain  the  royal  gifts  ; Thothmes  III. 
therefore  ordered  a new  building  to  be  constructed.  The  high  official  who 
was  entrusted  with  this  commission  has  represented  for  us  in  his  tomb  how 


BRICK  WITH  THE  NAME  OF  QUEEN  CHNEMTAMUN  (after  L.  D. , iii.  26). 


the  necessary  number  of  bricks  were  made  ; they  were,  as  was  usually  the 
case,  the  work  of  the  captive  Asiatics,  whom  the  king  had  presented  to  the 
temple.  As  we  see,  the  Nile  mud  is  first  moistened — two  men  are  drawing 
the  water  from  a tank  for  this  purpose — it  is  then  worked  through  with 
the  common  Egyptian  hoe.  It  is  next  placed  in  wooden  moulds  which, 
as  is  proved  by  many  bricks  we  possess,  were  stamped  with  the  name  of 
the  reigning  king.  When  ready,  the  bricks  were  placed  in  the  sun  to 
dry  ; the  dried  bricks,  which  can  be  recognised  in  our  representation  by 


their  small  size,  were  then  placed  in  heaps  ready  for  the  builders  to  fetch  them 
away  for  their  work.  Further  on  in  our  picture  the  process  of  building  is 
represented,  and  one  fact  that  we  observe  here  we  also  learn  from  every 
brick  building  which  has  been  preserved  to  us,  namely,  the  curious  way 
in  which  the  bricks  were  built  up.  In  old  times,  as  in  modern  days,  the 
Egyptian  rarely  placed  his  bricks  as  we  do  now,  with  all  the  bricks  in  each 
row  resting  on  the  broad  side.  It  was  the  Egyptian  custom,  on  the 
contrary,  to  place  the  bricks  alternately  in  one  or  two  layers,  first  on  the 
broad  side  and  then  on  the  narrow  side. 


1 L.  D.,  iii.  40. 


XVI 


THE  PLASTIC  ARTS 


419 


The  Nile  mud  served  also  as  mortar  in  the  brick  buildings  ; for  this 
purpose  it  was  generally  mixed  with  potsherds.  I must  add  that  in  very 
early  times  they  understood  how  to  build  the  arch  ; 1 in  the  long  vaulted 
passages  (probably  used  as  store-rooms)  which  Ramses  II.  built  round  his 
funerary  temple,  the  vaulting  is  constructed 
with  peculiarly  flat  bricks,  somewhat  re- 
sembling our  tiles,  these  were  provided  with 
special  grooves  in  order  to  fasten  them 
together  more  securely. 

In  the  remote  ages,  when  Egypt  was 
not  so  destitute  of  trees  as  in  historical 
times,  wood  was  extensively  used  for  build- 
ing. We  have  already  endeavoured  to 
reconstruct  an  ancient  wooden  palace  (see 
p.  1 7 1 ).  We  have  also  spoken  of  the  old 
form  of  door,  which,  with  its  boards  and 
laths,  we  recognise  at  once  as  carpenters’ 
work.  Another  architectural  feature  owes 
its  form  evidently  to  wood — the  material  in 
which  it  was  first  constructed — -I  refer  to 
the  pillar.  The  pillar  was  originally  the 
wooden  prop  which  helped  to  support  the 
roof,  and  could  not  be  dispensed  with  even 
in  a mud  building,  except  in  the  narrow 
passage-like  rooms  usual  in  Assyrian  archi- 
tecture. Two  supplementary  features  were 
naturally  derived  from  this  pillar : where 
it  stood  on  the  ground,  it  was  necessary 
to  heap  up  clay  to  give  it  a firmer  hold, 
and  where  the  beam  of  the  roof  rested 
on  it,  the  weight  was  divided  by  means 
of  a board  which  was  placed  between  the 
beam  and  the  pillar.  Both  these  features 
were  retained  in  the  Egyptian  column,  they 
constitute  the  round  base  and  the  square  ( Beni  Hasan,  Middle  Empire), 

abacus. 

The  most  simple  form  of  pillar  in  common  use,  if  we  except  the 
plain  square  pillar,  was  the  so-called  proto-doric  column,  which  occurs 
frequently  before  the  time  of  and  during  the  I 8th  dynasty.  It  is  a simple 
pillar,  8 or  1 6 sided,  with  base  and  abacus,  but  no  capital.  The  latter  was 
always  of  secondary  importance,  and  was  apparently  derived  from  the  orna- 
mentation of  the  pillars.  The  decoration  of  the  pillars  was  connected  with 
the  universal  love  for  flowers  in  Egypt  ; a special  instance  of  which  is  seen 
in  the  custom  of  giving  the  pillars  the  form  either  of  flowers  or  of  bunches 

1 The  oldest  stone  arch  is  represented  in  Perrot-Chipiez  ; it  occurs  in  a tomb  of  the  6th  dynasty 
at  Abydos. 


4-0 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


of  flowers.  Hence  there  arose  in  old  times  two  principal  types,  which 
we  may  designate  as  flower-pillars  and  bud-pillars.  In  its  oldest  form  the 
latter  represents  four  lotus  buds,  which  are  bound  together  so  that  their 
stalks  form  the  shaft  and  their  buds  the  capital  ; 1 in  later  times  the  general 
scheme  of  this  pretty  idea  is  alone  retained,  and  the  detail  is  often  replaced  by 


BUD-COLUMN  AND  FLOWER-COLUMN 
OF  THE  OLD  EMPIRE. 


BUD-COLUMN  OF  STONE  ARCHITECTURE 
IN  ITS  ORIGINAL  FORM. 


other  favourite  ornamentation.  The  flower-pillar  is  more  difficult  to  under- 
stand, it  represents  the  calyx  of  a large  gay  flower  placed  as  a capital 
on  a round  shaft  ; under  the  New  Empire  this  form  was  often  treated 
very  arbitrarily.2  A third  form  of  pillar  occurs  more  rarely,  but  may  be 
traced  back  as  far  as  the  Middle  Empire  ; 3 from  later  examples  we  judge 

1 Bud-pillars  under  the  O E. : L.  D.,  ii.  61  a in  e;  under  the  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  134  b. 
Originals  of  the  time  of  the  M.  E.  are  also  still  in  existence  (Beni  Hasan  and  Berlin  Museum). 

2 Flower-pillars  under  the  O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  41,  111  e c (with  bands  under  the  flower,  as  if  here 
also  the  shaft  was  supposed  to  consist  of  stalks  tied  together). 

3 L.  D. , ii.  127  ; in  one  example  bands  are  also  found  here  below  the  capital. 


XVI 


THE  PLASTIC  ARTS 


421 


that  this  pillar  was  intended  to  represent  a palm  with  its  gently-swaying 
boughs. 

A new  development  of  the  pillar  is  found  in  the  so-called  Hathor 
capital,  which  was  certainly  in  use  before  the  time  of  the  New  Empire, 
though,  as  it  happens,  we  cannot  identify  it  in  the  scanty  materials  we 


LATER  BUD-COLUMN  IN  ITS 
DEGENERATE  FORM. 


LATER  FLOWER-COLUMN  IN  ITS 
DEGENERATE  FORM. 


possess.  The  upper  part  of  the  pillar  is  adorned,  in  very  low  relief, 
with  a face  recognisable  by  the  two  cow’s  ears  as  that  of  the  Egyptian 
goddess  of  love,  who  may  have  been  revered  in  some  Egyptian  sanctuary 
as  a pillar  carved  in  this  fashion.  In  the  same  way  in  early  times  the 

pillar  jj , the  sacred  emblem  of  Osiris  of  Dedu,  was  employed  in  archi- 
tecture, and  by  the  combination  of  this  pillar  with  the  round  arch,  flat 


422 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


mouldings  and  other  ornaments,  the  Egyptians  were  able  to  create  very 
charming  walls  with  carved  open  work.1 

All  these  pillars  and  columns,  and  even  all  the  small  painted  details 
of  ornament  in  the  brick  buildings — the  gay  bands  and  the  surfaces  covered 
with  patterns,  which  were  apparently  derived  in  great  measure  from  the 
custom  of  covering  the  walls  with  gaily-coloured  mats — were  then  directly 
assimilated  into  stone  architecture,  and  for  the  greater  part  only  exist  for 
us  in  the  latter  form.  We  cannot  therefore  emphasise  too  strongly  the 
fact  that  the  forms  of  Egyptian  architecture,  as  we  know  them,  were  rarely 
intended  originally  for  the  places  in  which  we  see  them.  These  dainty 


BRONZE  MIRROR  WITH  THE  HEAD  OF  BESA. 
THE  HANDLE  IS  FORMED  BY  A CONVEN- 
TIONAL FLOWER  (after  W.,  ii.  351). 


SMALL  FAYENCE  BOWL  IN  THE  BERLIN  MUSEUM, 
DECORATED  WITH  A PAINTING  OF  THREE 
FISH  WITH  ONE  HEAD,  AND  THREE  LOTUS 

flowers  (after  W. , ii.  42). 


bud  and  flower  pillars  were  not  really  intended  to  be  constructed  with  a 
diameter  of  I 2 feet  and  to  reach  a height  of  over  60  feet,  and  if,  never- 
theless, they  exercise  such  an  ineffaceable  effect  upon  our  minds,  it  is 
owing-  rather  to  the  force  of  their  immense  dimensions  than  to  the 

o 

aesthetic  beauty  of  their  form. 

We  cannot  here  trace  the  details  of  the  development  of  the  architec- 
tural forms  in  the  great  temple  buildings,  though  the  movement  was  con- 
fined to  comparatively  narrow  limits.  These  forms  however  were  evidently 
developed  in  a freer  fashion  in  the  private  buildings  ; unfortunately  these 
are  now  known  to  us  only  by  representations  in  the  tombs.  For  instance, 
the  pillars  of  the  verandahs,  shown  in  representations  of  the  time  of  the 
New  Empire,  often  exhibit  forms  of  exuberant  fantasy.  When  we  see  dead 
geese  carved  upon  the  pillars  as  decoration,  as  at  Tell  el  Amarna,'  or  when, 

1 See  a very  beautiful  ivory  casket  in  the  Louvre  ; employed  as  ornamentation,  e.g.  in  the  tomb 
of  Pu’emre’  under  Thothmes  III.  (from  my  own  copy).  - L.  D.,  iii.  106  c. 


XVI 


THE  PLASTIC  ARTS 


423 


as  in  a chapel  of  the  time  of  the  20th  dynasty,1  three  capitals  are  placed  one 
above  the  other,  and  connected  together  by  a support  so  thin  that  it 
appears  that  the  pillar  must  break,  we  are  convinced  that  the  direction 
followed  in  the  architecture  of  private  houses  was  not  in  any  way 
subservient  to  the  traditional  rules  observed  in 
the  temples.  The  faint  remains  of  a painting 
also,  which  are  still  to  be  seen  in  a window 
recess  in  the  palace  of  Medinet  Habu  (a  prac- 
tised eye  will  recognise  a basket  of  fruit  and 
flowers),  betrays  a decorative  style  unknown 
in  the  sanctuaries  of  the  gods.  Evidently  in 
architecture,  as  in  painting  and  sculpture,  side 
by  side  with  the  stiff  conventional  style,  a 
more  living  art  was  developed,  which  shook 
itself  free  from  the  dogmas  of  tradition  ; 
unfortunately  it  is  almost  unknown  to  us,  as  it 
was  exclusively  employed  in  private  buildings 
which  have  long  since  disappeared. 

The  industrial  arts  also  made  good  use 
of  architectural  forms  and  ornamentation  ; 
boxes  finished  off  at  the  top  with  a hollow 
gorge,  and  rouge  pots  in  the  form  of  pillars, 
exist  in  great  numbers.  At  the  same  time 
special  forms  were  developed  in  this  branch 
of  art, — forms  worthy  of  more  attention  than 
they  have  received  as  yet.  In  part,  they  owe 
their  individual  style  to  the  peculiar  properties 
of  the  material  used,  and  to  the  technique  ; this 
is  the  case  with  the  pottery  and  wood-carving. 

For  instance,  the  well-known  pattern  resem- 
bling an  arrow-head,  used  for  little  wooden 
boxes  and  other  objects,  is  the  natural  out- 
come of  the  cutting  of  a piece  of  wood,  and 
in  the  same  way  the  so-called  panelling  in 
the  sides  and  covers  of  boxes,  which  appears 
as  early  as  the  6th  dynasty,2  represents  a 
peculiarity  due  to  a joiner’s  mode  of  working. 

In  a great  measure  also  imitations  from  the  world  of  nature  were 
employed  for  the  smaller  objects  of  art ; these  might  either  be  carved  in 
the  form  of  animals  or  plants,  or  representations  of  both  might  be  used  in 
their  ornamentation.  It  is  very  interesting  to  observe  what  manner  of  ideas 
were  especially  brought  into  play  for  this  purpose.  In  the  first  place, 
connected  with  hunting,  we  find  seats  supported  by  lions,  and  little  ointment 
bowls  in  the  form  of  gazelles  tied  up.  From  the  subject  of  war,  we  get 
under  the  New  Empire  the  figures  of  the  captive  barbarians  supporting 
1 L.  D.,  iii.  235.  2 On  the  relief  of 'Ep’e  at  Gizeh. 


WOODEN  OINTMENT-BOWL 
(after  Perrot-Chipiez). 


424 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP.  XVI 


the  flat  tops  of  tables,  or  carrying  little  ointment  bowls  as  tribute  on 
their  shoulders,  or,  as  in  a pretty  example  in  the  Gizeh  museum,  serving 
as  a pair  of  scissors.  Figures  of  beautiful  girls  as  well  as  of  pet  monkeys 
occur  as  a matter  of  course ; the  latter  may  be  seen  reaching  up  on  one 
leg  to  get  a look  into  the  rouge  pot,  or  twining  themselves  round  this 
important  toilet  requisite.  The  barbaric  little  god  Besa  also,  who  took 
all  perfumes  under  his  care,  would  perhaps  keep  the  rouge  in  his  little  fat 
body,  or  carry  the  lady’s  mirror  on  his  head.  These  erotic  subjects 
invaded  also  the  domain  from  which  the  Egyptians  obtained  their  favourite 
motives  for  ornamentation,  viz.  the  realm  of  flowers  and  papyrus  reeds, 
birds  and  fishes,  the  marsh  scenes,  and  the  “ bird-tanks  of  pleasure.”  The 
lovely  maiden  wading  through  the  rushes  to  pick  the  flowers,  or  catching 
a duck  as  she  swims  through  the  water;  the  lion  in  the  reeds  robbing  the 
cow  of  her  calf ; the  tank  with  its  lotus  flowers  and  fish  ; the  merry 
pictures  of  the  harem  on  the  water  with  the  master,  and  the  rough  play 
with  him  ; 1 the  little  boxes  and  bowls  in  the  shape  of  geese,  fish,  and 
flowers — everywhere  and  continually  we  have  allusions  to  the  pleasures 
of  life  to  be  enjoyed  in  the  marshes.  We  have  often  shown  in  the  course 
of  this  work  how,  from  the  days  of  the  Old  Empire  down  to  the  Roman 
time,  the  Egyptians  thoroughly  enjoyed  this  life  ; we  must  therefore 
regard  the  art  of  the  New  Empire,  which  treated  of  these  subjects,  as  an 
especially  popular  development.  The  art  of  the  Old  Empire  also,  which 
invested  the  pillars  with  the  forms  of  lotus-buds  and  water  flowers,  had 
followed  the  same  direction  ; but  these  forms  had  long  since  either 
died  away  or  been  turned  to  stone,  when  the  artists  of  the  New  Empire 
again  drank  from  the  same  fresh  spring  whence  their  forefathers  had 
drawn  their  inspiration  in  times  of  old. 

1 A small  stone  bowl  at  Gizeh. 


VASE  WITH  HEADS  OF  GAZELLES  AND  OF  HORSES  (after  W.  , ii.  6). 


HARVEST  SCENE  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE.  REAPERS,  ONE  OF  WHOM  IS  DRINKING  OUT  OF  A JUG  ; 
GLEANING  ; CARRYING  AWAY  AND  HEAPING  UP  THE  CORN  (after  W. , ii.  419). 


CHAPTER  XVII 

AGRICULTURE 


rg 

mi 

m 

M 

The  reason  that  the  little  land  of  Egypt  has  played  as  important 
part  in  the  history  of  civilisation  as  many  a 
large  empire,  is  due  to  the  wealth  which  yearly 
accrues  to  the  country  from  the  produce  of  the 
soil  ; agriculture  is  the  foundation  of  Egyptian 
civilisation.  The  results  which  the  agricul- 
turists of  the  Nile  valley  have  obtained,  they 
owe  however,  not  to  any  special  skill  or  clever- 
ness on  their  part,  but  to  the  inexhaustible 
fertility  of  the  land. 

It  is  inexhaustible  in  the  literal  sense 
of  the  word,  for  unless  quite  unreasonable 
demands  are  made  on  the  soil,  the  nourishment 
that  the  crops  have  absorbed  is  returned  to  it 
without  any  human  aid.  I need  scarcely  say 
that  this  miracle  is  worked  each  summer  by  the 
inundation  of  the  Nile  ; it  is  the  Nile  which 
“supplies  all  men  with  nourishment  and  food.”1 
The  great  river  however  does  not  bestow  its 
gifts  impartially,  it  may  also  be  the  cause  of 
misfortune  to  the  country,  for  whilst  a “ great 
Nile,”2  i.e.  a high  inundation  promises  the 
richest  increase  to  the  fields,  with  a low  Nile  REPRESENTATI0N 
comes  the  inevitable  dread  of  a “ year  of 
famine.”  3 This  stands  to  reason,  for  the  in- 
undation brings  with  it,  not  alone  the  fertile 
mud,  but  the  needful  humidity  for  the  soil. 

In  this  rainless  country  plants  can  only  grow  on  those  spots  that  have 


OF  THE  NILE, 
BRINGING  VASES  OF  WATER  AND 
FLOWERS  AS  HIS  GIFTS  TO  THE 
COUNTRY. 

He  is  hermaphrodite,  and  wears  a 
girdle  like  that  worn  by  sailors  and 
fishermen. 


1 L.  D.,  iii.  175  d.  2 L.  D.,  ii.  122,  b;  Harr.,  i.  23,  4. 

3 L.  D.,  ii.  122,  b.  We  see  how  terrible  a famine  in  Egypt  can  be  from  Abdallatif’s  description 
of  the  famine  in  1201  A.D.  (Abdallatif,  ed.  de  Sacy,  p.  360  ff. ). 


426 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


not  merely  been  overflowed,  but  also  sufficiently  saturated  with  the  water  ; 
where  this  is  not  the  case  the  hard  clay  soil  is  quite  bare  of  vegetation. 


ancient  shaduf.  (Thebes.  After  W.,  i.  281.) 

At  the  same  time  even  the  highest  inundation  does  not  overflow  all 
the  fields,  and  if  these  are  not  to  be  barren  the  peasant  must  undertake 
an  artificial  irrigation.  The  water  of  the  Nile  is  brought  as  near  as 


MODERN  SHADUF. 


possible  to  his  field  by  a trench,  and  he  then  erects  a kind  of  draw-well, 
now  called  by  the  modern  term  shaduf,  though  it  has  retained  its  old 


XVII 


AGRICULTURE 


427 


form.1  It  is  hard  work  the  whole  livelong  day  to  raise  and  empty  the 
pail  of  the  shaduf,  in  fact  nothing  is  so  tiring  in  the  daily  work  of  the 
Egyptians  as  this  irrigation  of  the  fields.  At  the  present  time,  when  the 
system  of  cultivation  has  been  so  immensely  improved,  the  fellahin  use  it 
most  extensively,  especially  in  Upper  Egypt ; in  old  times  the  shaduf  was 
perhaps  employed  less  frequently. 

The  inundation  over,  the  Nile  withdraws,  leaving  pools  of  water  standing 
here  and  there  on  the  fields.  This  is  the  busy  time  of  the  year  for 
the  Egyptian  farmer,  “ the  fields  are  out  ” and  he  must  “ work  industri- 
ously ” 2 so  as  to  make  good  use  of  the  blessing  brought  by  the  Nile.  He 
can  do  this  the  better  as  the  sultry  heat,  which  during  the  summer  had 
oppressed  both  him  and  his  cattle,  has  at  length  given  way.  “ A beautiful 
day,  it  is  cool,  and  the  oxen  draw  well  ; the  sky  is  according  to  our  desire,'’ 
say  the  people  who  till  the  ground,  and  they  set  to  work  with  good  will, 
“ for  the  Nile  has  been  very  high,”  and  wise  men  already  foretell  that  “ it  is 
to  be  a beautiful  year,  free  from  want  and  rich  in  all  herbs,”  a year  in  which 
there  will  be  a good  harvest,  and  in  which  the  calves  will  “ thrive 
excellently.”  3 


ploughing,  hoeing,  and  sowing  under  the  old  empire.  (Tomb  of  T'y.  After  Badeker,  p.  414.) 

The  first  duty  of  the  farmer  is  now  to  plough  the  land  ; 4 this  work  is 
the  more  difficult  because  the  plough  with  which  he  has  to  turn  over  the 
heavy  soil  is  very  clumsy.  The  Egyptian  plough  has  changed  but  little  ; 
from  the  earliest  period  it  has  consisted  of  a long  wooden  ploughshare,5 
into  which  two  slightly-bent  handles  are  inserted,  while  the  long  pole, 
which  is  tied  on  obliquely  to  the  hinder  part  of  the  ploughshare,  bears  a 
transverse  bar  in  front,  which  is  fastened  to  the  horns  of  the  oxen.  Such 
is  the  stereotyped  form  of  plough,  which  for  centuries  has  scarcely  altered 
at  all  ; for  though  under  the  Middle  Empire  another  rope  was  added  to 
bind  the  pole  and  ploughshare  together,  and  again  under  the  New  Empire 
the  handles  were  put  on  more  perpendicularly  and  provided  with  places 

1 The  illustration  in  the  text  and  a second  representation,  also  W\,  i.  281,  are  the  only  ones  I know 
of  which  are  of  early  date  ; the  water-wheels  may  also  be  old,  but  there  is  no  proof  of  this  fact  as 
regards  the  periods  with  which  we  are  dealing.  2 D’Orbiney,  2,  3. 

3 After  the  representation  in  the  tomb  of  Pa-hre  at  El  Kab,  L.  D. , iii.  10,  a. 

4 Representations  of  ploughing — O.  F..  : L.  D.,  ii.  43,  51  ; Badeker,  p.  414  ; L.  D.,  ii.  106,  107  ; 
Ros.  M.  C.,  32,  7 ; M.'E. : L.  D.,  ii.  127  ; W.,  ii.  391  ( = Ros.  M.  C.,  32,  4).  N.  E.  : Perrot,  704 
( = L.  D. , iii.  77  d) ; L.  D.,  iii.  10  a ; \Y. , i.  372.  Conventional  but  pleasing,  W.,  ii.  396  ( = Ros.  M.  C., 
32,  2 = Desc.  de  l’Eg.  antiq.,  ii.  90). 

5 If  the  ploughshare  is  brown  (Ros.  M.  C.,  32,  4,  5)  the  other  parts  of  the  plough  are  light 
yellow  ; from  this  circumstance  we  might  perhaps  conjecture  that  they  are  of  different  wood.  The 
darker  colour  might  however  only  indicate  the  earth  sticking  to  the  ploughshare.  This  may  be  the 
case  also  with  the  hoe  (see  note  2 on  the  following  page). 


428 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAT. 


for  the  hands,  yet  these  alterations  were  quite  unimportant.  Two  men  are 
needed  for  ploughing — one,  the  ploughman  proper,  presses  down  the 
handles  of  the  plough,  the  other,  the  ox-driver,1  is  indefatigable  in  goading 
on  the  animals  with  his  stick.  The  work  goes  on  with  the  inevitable 
Egyptian  cries  ; the  driver  encourages  the  ploughman  with  his  “ Press  the 
plough  down,  press  it  down  with  thy  hand  ! ” he  calls  to  the  oxen  to  “ pull 
hard,”  or  he  orders  them,  when  they  have  to  turn  at  the  end  of  the  field, 
to  be  “ round.”  2 There  are  generally  two  ploughs,  the  one  behind  the 
other,  probably  in  order  that  the  second  might  turn  up  the  earth  between 
the  furrows  made  by  the  other. 

If  the  Egyptians  merely  wanted  to  loosen  the  upper  coating  of  mud, 

they  employed  (at  any  rate  under  the 
New  Empire)  a lighter  plough  that 
was  drawn  by  men.3  Here  we  see 
four  boys  harnessed  to  the  bar,  while 
an  old  man  is  pressing  down  the 
handles.  This  plough  also  differs 
somewhat  from  the  usual  form  ; the 
ploughshare  consists  of  two  parts 
bound  together,  it  has  also  a long 
piece  added  on  behind  and  turned 
upwards  obliquely,  by  which  the 
ploughman  guides  the  plough. 

After  ploughing  however  the 
great  clods  of  the  heavy  Egyptian 
soil  had  to  be  broken  up  again  before 
the  ground  was  ready  for  the  seed. 
At  the  present  day  a “ cat’s  claw  ” 
— a roller  covered  with  spikes  — is 
drawn  over  the  fields  for  this  purpose  ; in  old  times  a wooden  hoe  was 
used,4 — the  latter  seems  indeed  to  have  been  the  national  agricultural 
implement.  We  could  have  scarcely  formed  a correct  idea  of  it  from  the 

figure  ^ ■ which  it  takes  in  the  hieroglyphs  and  on  the  reliefs  ; happily 

however  we  have  some  examples  of  real  hoes  in  our  museums.  The 
labourer  grasped  the  handle  of  this  hoe  at  the  lower  end  and  broke  up 
the  clods  of  earth  with  the  blade  ; by  moving  the  rope  he  could  make  it 
wider  or  narrower  as  he  pleased.  In  the  pictures  of  the  Old  Empire,  the 
men  hoeing  are  always  represented  following  the  plough  ; later,  they 

1 Horses  ploughing  occur  in  a tale  of  the  New  Empire,  d'Orb,  2,  2,  if  the  word  htr  is  to  be 
translated  here  by  horse,  which  is  doubtful. 

- Perhaps  the  great  lever  that  (L.  D.,  ii.  107)  is  carried  before  the  plough  was  used  to  facilitate  the 
turning  ; it  is  represented  as  dark  coloured  on  the  lower  side  ; this  fact  would  confirm  this  hypothesis. 

3 N.  E.  : L.  D.,  iii.  10  a. 

4 Hoes — O.  E.  : L.  U.,  ii.  51  ( = Ros.  M.  C.,  32,  1),  56  a (two-pronged  ?) ; Badeker,  414.  M.  E.  : 
L.  D.,  ii.  127  ; W.,  ii.  391  ; Perrot,  4 ; Ros.  M.  C.,  32,  6 (coloured,  the  handle  lighter  than  the  blade). 
N.  E.  : W.,  ii.  394;  Perrot,  704. 


WOODEN  HOE. 

From  a public  tomb  at  Thebes  of  the  time  of  the 
New  Empire.  (Berlin.  After  W. , ii.  252.) 


XVII 


AGRICULTURE 


429 


appear  to  have  gone  in  front  as  well  ; under  the  New  Empire  we  meet 
with  them  also  alone  in  the  fields,  as  if  for  some  crops  the  farmers 
dispensed  with  the  plough  and  were  content  with  hoeing  the  soil.  In 
the  above-named  periods  wooden  hammers  were  also  employed  to  break 
up  the  clods  of  earth.1 

After  the  land  had  been  properly  prepared,  the  sowing  of  the  seed 
followed.2  We  see  the  “ scribe  of  the  corn  ” gravely  standing  before  the 
heap  of  seed,  watching  the  men  sowing,  and  noting  down  how  often  each 
filled  his  little  bag  with  seed.  When  the  seed  had  been  scattered,  the 
work  of  sowing  was  not  complete — it  had  next  to  be  pressed  into  the 
tough  mud.  For  this  purpose  sheep  were  driven  over  the  freshly-sown 
fields.3  In  all  the  pictures  of  this  subject  one  or  two  shepherds  with  their 
flocks  are  to  be  seen  following  the  sower.  Labourers  swinging  their 


RAMS  treading  in  the  seed  (from  the  tomb  of  T'y.  After  Biideker). 


whips  drive  the  sheep  forward  ; others  no  less  energetically  chase  them 
back.  The  frightened  animals  crowd  together  ; a spirited  ram  appears  to 
be  about  to  offer  resistance — he  lowers  his  head  in  a threatening  attitude  ; 
most  of  the  creatures,  however,  run  about  the  field  in  a frightened  way, 
and  plough  it  (to  use  the  expression  of  the  inscriptions)  with  their  feet. 

This  trampling  in  of  the  seed  is  only  represented  in  the  pictures  of 
the  Old  Empire  ; the  custom  probably  continued  later,  but  became  less 
common.  When  Herodotos  travelled  in  Egypt,  he  noticed  that  pigs  were 
employed  in  the  Delta  for  this  purpose  ; in  Pliny’s  time  this  practice  was 
spoken  of  as  a long-forgotten  custom  of  doubtful  credibility. 

Harvest-time  comes,  and  the  corn  4 is  cut  by  means  of  a short  sickle,5 
with  which,  contrary  to  our  custom,  they  cut  the  stalks  high  above  the 
ground — sometimes  close  to  the  ears'5 — as  if  the  straw  were  useless,  and 

1 Hammers — N.  E.  : Perrot,  704. 

2 Sowing — O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  51,  56  a ; Biideker,  p.  414  ; L.  D.,  ii.  106  b ; W.,  ii.  390.  N.  E.  : 

\V. , ii.  394  ; Perrot,  704  ; Ros.  M.  C.,  32,  2 ( = W.,  ii.  396)  ; W.,  i.  372. 

3 Sheep  trampling  in  the  seed — O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  51  (Ros.  M.  C.,  32,  1),  56  a,  106  b ( = Ros.  M. 

C.,  32,  3) ; W.,  ii.  390.  In  all  the  pictures  I know,  sheep  are  the  animals  represented,  not  goats,  as  has 
often  been  said. — What  is  the  little  bag  and  the  short  stick  which  the  driver  carries  besides  his 
whip  ? 

4 Men  cutting  corn  under  the  O.  E. — Dyn.  IV.:  L.  D.,  ii.  51 ; also  ib.  13.  Dyn.  V. : ib.  43,  47, 

73  (misunderstood),  So  c.  Biideker,  p.  407.  Dyn.  VI.  : ib.  106,  107.  Under  the  M.  E.  : L.  D. , 

ii.  127.  Under  the  N.  E.  : W. , ii.  419,  422,  424,  427. 

5 The  shape  of  the  sickle  varies  very  much,  without  our  being  able  to  give  a limit  of  time  for 
these  changes. 

6 Thus  W.,  ii.  419  (N.  E. ).  Under  the  O.  E.  they  used  to  cut  them  off  at  about  the  height  of 
the  knee. 


43° 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


only  added  to  the  difficulty  of  threshing.  The  work  proceeds  quickly, 
as  we  see  from  the  rapid  movements  of  the  men  ; amongst  them  however 

we  often  find  an  idle  labourer  1 standing  with  his 
sickle  under  his  arm  ; instead  of  working,  he 
prefers  to  reckon  up  on  his  fingers  to  his  com- 
rades how  many  sheaves  he  has  already  cut  on 
that  day.  The  conversation  of  the  other  harvest- 
men  also  appears  to  be  chiefly  concerned  with 
their  own  many  excellent  qualities ; unfortunately 
their  witty  remarks  are  quite  incomprehensible  to 
us.2  Now  and  then  there  is  a pause  in  the  work,  and  a pointed  jug  is 
passed  round  amongst  the  thirsty  labourers.3 

When  the  corn  has  been  cut  it  is  bound  in  sheaves  ; and  as  the  stalks 
are  too  short  for  one  bundle  to  form  a sheaf,  two  bundles  are  laid  with  their 
ends  together,  the  ears  outwards,  and  then  this  double  sheaf  is  tied  together 
in  the  middle  with  a rope.4  A messenger  is  sent  with  a particularly  fine 
specimen  to  the  owner  of  the  property,  that  he  may  see  how  good  the 
crop  is  ;5  the  rest  is  put  up  on  the  field  in  heaps  containing  three  or  four 
bundles  each.  The  ears  that  have  been  dropped  are  collected  in  little 
bags  by  the  gleaning  women.6 

The  corn  has  now  to  be  taken  to  the  threshing-floor,  which  was 
situate  probably  near  the  town.  It  was  carried  on  the  backs  of  those 
patient  animals — even  now  the  beasts  of  burden  of  modern  Egypt — the 
donkeys.  We  may  see  quite  a number  of  them  being  driven  in  wild 
career  on  to  the  fields,7  their  drivers  behind  them  calling  out  to  them  and 
brandishing  their  sticks.  On  the  way  they  meet  the  animals  returning 
home  with  their  loads  ; amongst  them  is  a donkey  with  her  foal.  With  her 
head  raised  she  greets  the  company  with  a loud  bray  ; but  the  sticks  of 
the  drivers  admit  of  no  delay.  Soon  enough  any  foolish  resistance  is 
over.  The  donkeys  arrive  on  the  harvest-field  ready  to  be  laden  with  the 
sheaves  ; one  of  the  animals  then  kicks  up  his  heels,  and  refuses  to  come 
alongside.  One  of  the  drivers  pulls  him  by  the  ears  and  leg,  another 
beats  him  ; “ run  as  thou  canst,”  they  cry  to  him,  and  drag  him  up  to  the 
lading  place.8 

In  the  meantime  the  sheaves  have  been  tied  up  in  a large  basket  9 or 
sack,10  or  they  may  have  been,  as  was  apparently  customary  later,  packed 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  So  c,  106  b,  107,  127.  2 Brugsch,  Gr.  W.,  165-169. 

3 L.  D.,  ii.  9;  \V.,  ii.  419. 

4 O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  51,  43,  47,  106.  N.  E.  : W.,  ii.  424.  After  the  time  of  the  M.  E.  it  appears 

as  if  they  dispensed  with  the  tying  up  of  the  sheaves  as  a rule,  and  collected  the  cut  corn  direct  into 

the  basket  or  bag  in  which  it  was  carried  to  the  threshing-floor.  Cp.  L.  D.,  ii.  127  ; W.,  ii.  419, 
420,  422.  6 O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  47. 

6 M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  127  (superscription  srd,  i.e.  Copt.  <rpiT,  gleaning).  N.  E. : W.,  ii.  419,  422. 

7 L.  D.,  ii.  51,  47,  73,  106.  These  scenes  are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  daily  life  of  modern  Egypt. 

8 L.  D.,  ii.  47,  80  a. 

9 Called  ’ eadt , and  made  of  cord  : Perrot,  669  ; L.  D. , ii.  So  c,  106.  Open  at  the  top,  ib.  56  a. 
The  saddle  below  has  rings  to  which  the  basket  is  to  be  fastened,  ib.  106. 

10  L.  D.,  ii.  51,  43,  73  ; fastened  up  at  the  top,  ib.  47.  Badeker,  p.  407. 


XVII 


AGRICULTURE 


43i 


in  panniers,1  which  were  hung  over  the  saddle  of  the  donkey.  When  the 
donkeys  are  laden,  one  sheaf,  for  which  no  room  could  be  found,  is 
put  in  the  basket,2  and  the  procession  sets  off. 

They  go  slowly  enough,  though  the  men  never 
cease  calling  out  to  their  beasts  to  “ run,”  but  the 
donkeys  are  heavily  laden,  and  one  stumbles 
under  his  burden.  The  driver  guides  him  by 
the  tail ; his  boy,  who  has  to  see  that  the  load 
is  rightly  balanced,  pulls  him  by  the  ear.3  When 
they  arrive  at  the  corn  stack,  which  has  been 
raised  in  the  threshing-floor,  the  sheaves  are 
divided,  and  two  workmen  busy  themselves  with 
throwing  up  the  separate  bundles  of  ears  on  to  the  stack.  Great  skill 
and  strength  seem  to  have  been  necessary  for  this  work,  so  that  by  a 
powerful  throw  the  stack  might  be  made  as  firm  as  possible  ; a third 
workman  is  often  to  be  seen  gathering  together  one  by  one  the  ears  that 
have  fallen  below.4 

The  threshing-floor,  in  the  midst  of  which  appears  to  have  been  the 
stack,5  is,  to  judge  from  the  pictures,  a flat  round  area,  with  the  sides  some- 


what raised.1'  The  corn  is  spread  out  here,  and  trodden  by  the  hoofs  of 
the  animals  driven  about  in  it.  Under  the  Old  Empire  the  animals  used 
for  this  purpose  were  nearly  always  donkeys/  and  oxen  are  only  met  with 
when,  as  we  may  say,  extra  help  was  wanted  ; s after  the  time  of  the 
Middle  Empire  however,  the  Egyptians  seem  to  have  followed  a different 


1 M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  127.  N.  E.  : W.,  ii.  420. 

2 L.  D.,  ii.  80,  106.  Biideker,  p.  407  ; Perrot,  669.  In  one  case  (L.  D.,  ii.  47)  it  is  a bundle 
of  weeds,  evidently  carried  thus  for  food. 

3 L.  D.,  ii.  51,  47,  56  a,  73,  80,  106-107  > Biideker,  p.  407. 

4 L.  D.,  ii.  51,  43,  56  a,  73,  80,  io5.  The  stack  is  called  q the  throw 

5 Cp.  the  picture  W.,  ii.  424. 

6 Under  the  O.  E.  and  the  M.  E.  the  floor  is  drawn  L.  . , yet  as  we  do  not  see  the  feet  of 
the  animals  standing  upon  it,  the  level  must  be  lower  in  the  centre.  Under  the  N.  E.  we  find  it 
represented  thus  . Both  prove  the  same  fact. 

7 L.  D.,  ii.  9,  43,  73,  80  a ; Perrot,  669. 


8 L.  D.,  ii.  47,  71  a,  106. 


432 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


plan,  for  we  find  that  in  later  times  oxen  were  employed  alone.1  As  a 
rule,  when  donkeys  were  used,  ten  animals  were  employed,  but  in  the 
case  of  oxen  three  were  considered  sufficient.  They  were  driven  round 
the  floor  in  a circle,"  and  the  stick  and  the  voice  were  of  course  in  great 
request,  for  donkeys  are  particularly  self-willed  creatures.  As  we  see,  one 
wants  to  run  the  other  way,  another  will  not  go  forward  at  all,  so  that 
there  is  nothing  to  do  but  to  seize  him  by  the  fore  leg  and  drag  him 
over  the  threshing-floor.  We  often  see  an  ox  or  a donkey  munching  a 
few  ears  while  threshing,  as  if  to  illustrate  the  Hebrew  maxim  that  “ thou 
shalt  not  muzzle  the  ox  that  treadeth  out  the  corn.” 


Threshing  in  the  threshing-floor,  sweeping  together  of  the  corn,  and  winnowing.  On  a tree  near  the 
threshing-floor  there  hangs  a skin,  out  of  which  a labourer  drinks.  To  the  left  the  measuring  of 
the  corn  that  has  been  threshed  (after  W. , ii.  419). 


After  the  corn  has  been  threshed,  it  is  collected,  together  with  the 
chaff,  by  means  of  a wooden  fork,  into  a big  heap,3  which  is  weighted  at 
the  top  in  order  to  keep  it  together.  The  next  necessary  work  is  to  sift 
the  corn  from  the  chaff  and  dirt  consequent  on  such  a rude  procedure. 
This  easy  work  seems  always  to  have  been  performed  by  women.4  They 
winnow  the  corn  by  throwing  it  up  quickly  by  means  of  two  small  bent 
boards.  The  grain  falls  straight  down  while  the  chaff  is  blown  forwards.5 
The  corn  has  already  been  passed  through  a great  rectangular  sieve  to 
separate  it  from  the  worst  impurities.5 

A sample  of  the  freshly-threshed  corn  is  then  sent  for  the  master  to  see ; 
the  harvest-men  also  do  not  forget  to  thank  the  gods.  They  not  only 
dedicate  the  first-fruits  to  the  god  specially  revered  in  the  locality,'  and 
celebrate  a festival  to  Min,  the  god  of  agriculture, s but  also  during  harvest- 
time the  peasants  give  thanks  to  heaven.  In  one  example,  for  instance, 
we  find  two  little  altars  erected  near  the  threshing-floor  between  the  heaps 

1 M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  127.  N.  E.  : W.,  ii.  419,  420,  423,  424  ; L.  D.,  iii.  10  c,  d. 

2 W.,  ii.  420,  there  are  four  oxen  threshing,  their  horns  are  fastened  together  with  a stick,  so 
that  they  have  to  keep  in  step. 

3 This  sweeping  together  is  called  (j  n^jj ; the  fork  has  two  or  three  prongs.  O.  E.  : 

Perrot,  36;  L.  D.,  ii.  9,  47,  71,  80.  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  127.  N.  E.  : W.,  ii.  422,  423. 

4 The  overseer  sits  near  them  with  a stick,  L.  D. , ii.  9. 

3 O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  47  (very  instructive),  71,  73,  80;  Badeker,  p.  407;  Perrot,  36.  N.  E.  : 
W. , ii.  419,  422,  423. 

6 Perrot,  36;  Brugsch,  Gr.  W.,  143;  L.  D.,  ii.  9,  47,  71,  80.  All  these  pictures  are  of  the 
time  of  the  O.  E.  7 Cp.  p.  272.  8 See  p.  66. 


XVII 


AGRICULTURE 


433 


of  grain,1  and  in  another  a little  bowl  is  placed  on  the  heap  of  grain  that 
a woman  has  piled  up  ; 2 both  are  doubtless  offerings  to  the  snake  goddess, 
Renenutet  ; the  altars  3 and  chapels  4 that  we  meet  with  in  the  courts  of 
the  granaries  were  also  probably  erected  to  her  honour. 

Finally,  at  the  close  of  the  harvest,  two  officials  belonging  to  the 


PROPERTY  CONSISTING  OF  A HOUSE,  TWO  GRANARIES,  AND  A BUILDING  OF  UNCERTAIN 
design  (Tell  el  Amarna.  After  Perrot-Chipiez). 


PROPERTY,  CONSISTING  OF  FIVE  BARNS,  SURROUNDED  BY  A BRICK  WALL  ; THREE  BARNS 

have  already  been  filled  (Thebes.  After  W. , i.  37 1 ). 


estate  come  on  the  scene,  the  “ scribe  of  the  granary  ” and  the  “ measurer 
of  the  corn.”  They  measure  the  heaps  of  corn  5 before  they  are  taken 


2 L.  D.,  ii.  9. 

4 N.  E.  : W.,  i.  348  ; cp.  also  ib.  385. 


1 L.  D.,  ii.  80. 

3 O.  E.  : Perrot,  30. 

of  a domain  under  the  O.  E.  consisted,  according  to  L.  D.,  ii.  71,  of  (1)  the 

>0^1 

, scribe  (“scribe  of  the  granary,”  L.  D.,  ii.  51);  (3)  the 


The 


VA  , superintendent ; (2)  the 


2 F 


434 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


into  the  granary.  These  granaries  were,  at  all  periods,  built  essentially  on 
the  same  plan.  In  a court  surrounded  by  a wall  were  placed  one  or  two 
rows  of  conical  mud  buildings  about  16  feet  high  and  6^  feet  broad; 


be  seen  in  the  model  represented  here.2  These  granaries  had  all,  as 
a rule,  a flat  roof  reached  by  an  outside  staircase  ; the  roof  formed  a 
good  vantage  ground  for  the  scribe,  from  which  he  could  keep  account  of 
the  sacks  that  were  brought  up  and  emptied  into  the  granary.3  Such  a 
granary  was  only  suitable  for  a large  establishment,  for  a property,  for 
instance,  like  that  of  Pahre  of  El  Kab,  who  lived  at  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  dynasty,  where  we  see  the  harvest  brought  by  great  ships  to  the 
granary ; the  workmen  who  are  carrying  the  heavy  sacks  of  corn  on 
board  break  out  at  last  into  complaints  : “ Are  we  then  to  have  no  rest 
from  the  carrying  of  the  corn  and  the  white  spelt?  The  barns  are  already 
so  full  that  the  heaps  of  corn  overflow,  and  the  boats  are  already  so  full 
of  corn  that  they  burst.  And  yet  we  are  still  driven  to  make  haste.”  4 
Up  to  this  point  I have  spoken  of  corn  in  general,  because  the  various 
species  of  corn  are  never  represented  in  the  pictures  with  any  certainty. 
There  are  two  kinds  of  corn  which  are  brought  to  our  notice  in  the 
usual  representations  of  agriculture,  barley  and  wheat  ; both  were  exten- 
sively cultivated  in  Egypt,  as  is  proved  by  the  straw  still  to  be  seen  in 
the  unburnt  bricks.5  On  a few  monuments  of  the  time  of  the  New 
Empire  the  harvest  of  another  cultivated  plant  is  represented  ; it  has  a 


reading,  L.  D.,  ii.  103).  The  “ measurer  of  the  corn  ” is  often  found  also  under  the  N.  E.  Similar 
representations  of  the  N.  E.,  W.  ii.  419,  422. 

1 O.  E.  : Terrot,  30.  M.  E.  : W. , i.  371  (with  staircase).  N.  E.  : W.,  i.  371  ; Perrot,  487 
(Prisse  texte,  p.  218). 

2 Also  L.  D.,  ii.  127;  Perrot,  488.  The  staircase  also,  W.,  i.  37 1 , in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
the  roof  is  not  flat. 

3 The  form  p/A/p  a heap  of  corn  raised  on  a stand  of  mud  on  account  of  the  mice,  must, 

judging  by  the  hieroglyphs,  have  been  the  usual  way  of  keeping  the  corn  in  the  earliest  ages  ; yet 
the  double  granary  at  Tell  el  Amarna  (W.,  i.  348)  is  the  only  one  I know  of,  in  which  similar  heaps 
are  represented  instead  of  the  granary.  4 L.  D. , iii.  10  a. 

5 I pass  over  here  purposely  the  difficult  question  as  to  the  period  at  which  the  various  cultivated 
plants  were  introduced  into  Egypt. 


MODEL  OF  A GRANARY 
(Louvre.  After  Perrot-Chipiez). 


they  had  one  little  window  high 
up,  and  another  half-way  up  or 
near  the  ground.  The  lower 
one,  which  served  for  taking 
away  the  corn,  was  generally 
closed  on  account  of  the  mice, 
and  the  workmen  emptied  their 
sacks  through  the  upper  win- 
dow, which  was  reached  by  a 
ladder.1  Under  the  Middle 
Empire  we  find  also  a some- 
what different  form,  which  may 


, measurer  ; (4)  the 


|T~\/|  > strong  in  speech  (?)  of  the  granary  (the  correct 


XVII 


AGRICULTURE 


435 


stalk  with  a small  red  fruit  at  the  top.  This  has  been  recognised  with  great 
probability  as  the  black  millet,  the  durra  of  modern  Egypt.1  As  we  see 
by  the  accompanying  picture,  the  durra  was  not  cut,  but  pulled  up  ; the 
earth  was  then  knocked  off  the  roots,  after  which  the  long  stalks  were  tied 


together  in  sheaves.  To  get  the  seed  off  the  stalks  a curious  instrument 
something  like  a comb  was  used,  which  is  seen  in  the  illustration  below. 
In  a similar  picture  the  old  slave  whose  duty  it  was  to  do  the  combing 
is  seated  in  the  shade  of  a sycamore  ; he  pretends  that  the  work  is  no 
trouble,  and  remarks  to  the  peasant,  who  brings  him  a fresh  bundle  of 


durra  to  comb  : “If  thou  didst  bring  me  even  eleven  thousand  and  nine, 
I would  yet  comb  them.”  The  peasant  however  pays  no  attention  to 
this  foolish  boast  ; “ Make  haste,”  he  says,  “ and  do  not  talk  so  much,  thou 
oldest  amongst  the  field  labourers.”  2 

Besides  the  above  crops,  there  is  no  doubt  that  vegetables  such  as 
onions,  cucumbers,  and  melons  were  cultivated  as  extensively  in  ancient  as 
in  modern  Egypt.  On  this  point  however  our  knowledge  is  very  scanty, 
and  it  will  therefore  be  best  now  to  turn  to  the  other  department  of 
Egyptian  husbandry,  viz.  cattle-breeding,  concerning  which  there  is,  com- 
paratively speaking,  rich  material  at  hand.  The  pictures,  specially  of  the 
Old  Empire,  represent  the  life  of  the  cattle  so  frequently  and  with  such  great 
truth  to  nature,  that  we  are  tempted  to  believe  that  the  Egyptians  of  old 
were  as  friendly  with  their  animals  as  those  of  modern  times  are  rough 
and  cruel. 

1 Durra  harvest : W. , ii.  396,  427,  428  ; L.  D.,  iii.  10  e. 


2 L.  D.,  iii.  10  e. 


436 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


This  love  of  animals  had  one  feature  peculiar  to  Egypt, — of  all  domestic 
animals  the  ox  was  the  dearest  to  the  heart  of  the  Egyptian.  Cattle-breeding 
takes  up  a very  large  space  in  the  representations  on  the  monuments  ; in 
almost  every  tomb  of  the  Old  Empire  we  meet  with  the  herdsman  and  his 
animals ; the  latter  are  either  swimming  through  the  water  or  are  being  fed  or 
milked.  The  Egyptians  talked  to  their  oxen  as  we  talk  to  our  dogs  ; they 
gave  them  names 1 and  decked  out  the  finest  with  coloured  cloths  and 
pretty  fringes  ;2  they  represented  their  cattle  in  all  positions  with  an 
observation  both  true  and  affectionate,  showing  plainly  how  dearly  they 
valued  them.  The  sort  of  contempt  that  we  feel  for  dumb  oxen  was 
unknown  to  the  Old  Egyptian  ; on  the  contrary,  the  cow  was  to  him  a 
sacred  animal,  in  whose  form  the  highest  goddess  had  deigned  to  appear, 
while  the  bull  was  considered  the  ideal  conception  of  heroic  strength  and 
power.  Other  nations  have  compared  their  most  powerful  gods  and  their 
greatest  heroes  to  the  lion  ; the  Egyptians,  on  the  other  hand,  compared 
them  to  the  “ strong  bull.” 

The  oxen  of  ancient  Egypt  were  indeed,  as  a matter  of  fact,  worthy 
of  all  admiration.3  According  to  the  pictures  and  the  skulls  that  we 
possess,  the  breed  belonged  to  that  species  which  is  still  at  the  present 
day  the  ruling  race  throughout  Africa,  the  so-called  zebu  ; they  resembled 
that  animal  in  having  “the  forehead  very  receding,  the  little  projection  of 
the  edge  of  the  socket  of  the  eye,  the  flatness  and  straightness  of  the 
whole  profile  strongly  marked.”  The  hump  so  fully  developed  in  many 
zebus  is  almost  entirely  wanting,  yet  this  is  often  the  case  with  those 
animals  in  the  interior  of  Africa.  The  Egyptians  developed  several  species 
and  varieties  from  the  zebu  by  breeding  ; these  differed  not  only  in 
appearance,  but  their  flesh  also  varied  in  goodness.4  The  most  important 
species  under  the  Old  Empire  was  the  long-horned;5 6  the  animals  had 
unusually  long  horns,  which  as  a rule  were  bent  in  the  lyre  form,  more 
rarely  in  that  of  the  crescent.  Further,  they  possessed  “a  dignified  neck 
like  the  bison  ...  a somewhat  high  frame,  massive  muzzle,  and  a fold  of 
skin  on  the  belly.”  They  were  generally  pure  white,  or  white  with  large 
red  or  black  spots,  or  they  might  be  light  yellow  or  brown  ; in  one  of  the 
pictures  we  see  a rather  uncanny-looking  animal  of  a deep  black  colour,  with 
red  belly  and  ankles.  The  connoisseur  recognised  several  varieties  of  this 
long-horned  race  ; the  common  'ena  was  distinguished  from  the  rarer  neg]' 

1 Cp.  the  cow  “purest  of  bulls”  (sic)  and  the  calf  “good  ox,”  of  the  12th  dynasty  in  Mar.  Cat. 
d’Ab.,  742. 

2 Fringes:  L.  D.,  ii.  15  b,  57,  69,  70,  etc.  There  are  some  preserved  in  London  which  are 
made  of  plaited  reeds. 

3 Cp.  R.  Hartman  in  A.  Z.,  1864,  p.  25,  on  the  oxen  of  Egypt ; he  does  not  appear  however  to 
regard  the  hornless  cattle  as  a different  species. 

4 The  list  of  offerings  in  Perrot,  667,  differentiates  between  the  flesh  of  the  species  neg,  the  ’eua 

and  the  fyred  ’eb‘a. 

6 The  long-horned  species  is  called  the  'eua  “ oxen  ” in  contradistinction  to  other  species.  Repre- 
sentations of  them  are  found  everywhere  ; unusually  large  horns,  e.g.  L.  D.,  ii.  31  ; Diim.  Res.,  9. 
Coloured  pictures  : L.  D.,  ii.  19-21,  57,  58,  66. 

0 The  neg  is  represented  L.  D.,  ii.  14  b (gigantic),  24,  54,  91  c. 


XVII 


AGRICULTURE 


437 


though  to  our  uninitiated  eyes  there  is  no  recognisable  difference  between 
the  representations  of  the  two  varieties. 

In  the  pictures  of  the  Old  Empire,  animals  with  short  horns 1 are 
represented  more  rarely  than  the  long-horned,  though  the  former  appear 
frequently  in  later  times.  Whether  they  were  rarer  in  the  earlier  period, 
or  whether  in  their  reliefs  the  Egyptians  preferred  to  represent  the  long- 
horned species,  because  they  looked  more  picturesque  and  imposing,  we 
cannot  decide. 

In  the  Old  Empire  reliefs  there  are  also  representations  of  animals 
which  apparentlyremained  horn- 
less all  through  the  different 
stages  of  their  life.  These  may 
be  regarded  as  a third  species.” 

They  seem  to  have  been  valued 
as  fancy  cattle,  for  we  never  find 
them  employed  in  ploughing  or 
threshing  ; the  peasants  liked  to 
deck  them  out  in  bright  cloths 
and  bring  them  as  a present  to 
their  master.  At  the  same  time 
they  cannot  have  been  very 
rare,  for  on  the  property  of  hornless  cattle  under  the  old  empire 

r , , (after  L.  D. , ii.  9). 

Oha  iraonch  there  were  said  to 

be  835  long-horned  animals,  and  no  less  than  220  of  the  hornless  species. 

The  Egyptians  were  not  content  with  the  different  varieties  of  the 
original  breed,  which  were  due  to  their  skill  in  breeding  ; they  adopted 
also  an  artificial  method  in  order  to  give  the  animals  a peculiar  appearance. 
They  had  a method  of  bending  one  horn  of  the  bull  downwards,  and  this 
gave  the  animal  a most  fantastic  appearance.:i  This  result  was  probably- 
obtained  by  the  same  process  which  is  still  employed  in  the  east  of  the 
Sudan  ; the  horn  substance  was  shaved  off  as  far  as  the  root  on  the  side 
to  which  the  horn  was  to  bend  ; as  it  healed,  the  horn  would  bend  towards 
the  side  intended,  and  finally  the  bending  was  further  assisted  by' 
hot  irons. 

The  care  with  which  the  different  breeds  are  kept  apart  in  the  pictures 

1 Short-horned  animals:  Diim.  Res.,  9;  L.  D.,  ii.  70;  in  some  degree  also,  47,  74c,  104a. 
Under  the  M.  E.  fighting  bulls  with  quite  short  horns  : L.  D. , ii.  132. 

2 Hornless,  generally  called  <|j,  [ired'ebla  (?),  sometimes  only  designated  as  'eua,  L.  D.,  ii. 

9 a (with  calf);  15  b,  45  d,  50  b,  60,  62,  74  c,  77  (with  calf)  ; 80  e,  91  c,  96,  102  a,  b,  105.  Under 
the  M.  E.  they  are  described  sometimes  as  'eua  (L.  D.,  ii.  128,  129,  132),  and  sometimes  by  the 
signs  for  the  syllables  ten  and  die  put  together  (ib.  129,  13 1 ) ; they  frequently  occur  at  this  time. 
A speckled  animal  of  this  time,  ib.  152  h.  That  the  hred'eb‘a  are  not  a youthful  stage  of  the  common 
species  we  learn — (1)  from  the  occurrence  of  calves  ; and  (2)  from  the  occurrence  of  “young  cattle,” 
ren,  of  this  species  (L.  D. , ii.  105)  ; (3)  from  the  express  differentiation  between  the  neg  and  the  'eua 
in  the  list  of  offerings  : Perrot,  667. 

s Bent  horns — O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  47,  70,  102  b;  Diim.  Res.,  9.  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  129.  Cp. 
R.  Hartmann  in  A.  Z.,  1864,  p.  26. 


438 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


shows  that,  even  under  the  Old  Empire,  the  Egyptians  had  already 
emerged  from  the  primitive  stage  of  cattle-breeding.  They  were  no 
longer  content  to  lead  the  animals  to  their  pasture  and  in  other  respects  to 
leave  them  to  themselves  ; on  the  contrary,  they  watched  over  ever}' 
phase  of  their  life.  Special  bulls  were  kept  for  breeding  purposes,1  and  the 
herdsmen  understood  how  to  assist  the  cows  when  calving.2  They  took 
care  that  the  food  for  the  cattle  was  plentiful,  though  perhaps  not  quite 
in  the  way  described  in  the  fairy  tale  of  the  New  Empire  : “His  oxen 
said  to  him  : ‘ There  and  there  the  herbs  are  good,’  and  he  heard  what 
they  said  and  drove  them  to  the  place  of  good  herbs,  and  the  cattle  which 
he  kept  throve  excellently  and  calved  very  often.”  3 As  a matter  of  fact, 
they  had  a much  more  prosaic  method  of  fattening  their  cattle,  namely, 
with  the  dough  of  bread.4  Judging  from  the  pictures  in  the  tombs,  this 


method  must  have  been  in  common  use  under  the  Old  Empire.  We 
continually  see  the  herdsmen  “ beating  the  dough,”  and  making  it  into 
rolls  ; they  then  squat  down  before  the  ruminating  oxen  and  push  the 
dough  from  the  side  into  their  mouths,  admonishing  them  to  “ eat  then.” 
A good  herdsman  had  also  to  see  after  the  drink  of  his  cattle  ; he  sets  a 
great  earthen  vessel  before  them,  patting  them  in  a friendly  way  to 
encourage  them  to  drink.5  He  had,  of  course,  to  go  more  sternly  to 
work  when  he  wanted  to  milk  the  “ mothers  of  the  calves,”  or  as  we  should 
say,  the  milch  cows.  He  had  to  tie  their  feet  together,  or  to  make  one 
of  his  comrades  hold  their  front  legs  firmly  ; the  calves  who  disturbed 
his  work  had  also  to  be  tied  up  to  pegs.” 

In  modern  Egypt  the  cows  feed  in  the  cultivated  clover  fields,  for 

1 Cows  and  bulls:  L.  D.,  ii.  77,  105. 

2 Calving  cows  : Diim.  Res.,  9 ; and  much  injured  : L.  D.,  ii.  96.  3 D Orb.,  1,  10. 

4 The  fattening  of  cattle:  Diim.  Res.,  9;  L.  D.,  ii.  50  b,  62,  96,  102  b;  Br.  Gw.,  1.  Under 

the  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  132.  This  usha  was  also  employed  in  the  fattening  of  antelopes  and  poultry  ; 
the  idea  that  the  giving  of  medicine  is  represented  is  scarcely  credible.  The  “ beating  of  the  dough  : 
L.  D.,  ii.  66,  77,  96,  105.  The  twisting  of  the  rolls  : Perrot,  33  ; Badeker,  405  = Prisse,  Hist,  de 
l’Art.  Atlas.  The  dough  or  the  rolls  seem  to  have  been  boiled. 

s Drinking:  L.  D.,  ii.  62,  96,  105.  6 L.  D.,  ii.  66,  77,  96,  106  a ; Perrot,  39. 


XVII 


AGRICULTURE 


439 


there  are  no  longer  any  meadows  with  grass  growing  wild.  Under  the 
Old  Empire  it  was  quite  otherwise  ; the  cattle  found  their  natural  pasture 
in  the  stretches  of  marshy  land  of  which  we  have  often  spoken  in  this 
book.  As  at  the  present  day  in  mountainous  countries  the  cows  are 
sent  up  to  the  alps  for  the  summer,  so  these  ancient  herdsmen  sent  their 
cattle  for  a part  of  each  year  to  the  marshes  of  the  north  ; for  though  in 
the  Nile  valley  proper  all  the  land  was  pretty  well  brought  under  cultiva- 
tion, a good  part  of  the  Delta  was  still  wild  and  uncleared.  In  the  marshy 
districts  the  cattle  were  kept  by  men  who  were  scarcely  regarded  by 
the  true  Egyptian  as  his  equals.  The  manner  in  which  the  sculptors 


of  the  Old  Empire  designated  the 


Such 


marshmen,  shows  that 


they  considered  them  rather  as  pariahs.  Such  a man  might  be  indis- 
pensable as  a good  herdsman,  an  excellent  fisherman,  an  expert  bird-catcher; 
he  might  make  good  mats  and  boats  from  the  papyrus  reed,  his  masters 
might  enjoy  his  dry  wit  and  homely  wisdom,  but  he  was  all  too 
dirty.  He  never  thought  of  shaving  off  his  hair  cleanly,  but  contented 
himself  with  cutting  it  short  on  the 
forehead  ; many  indeed  went  so  far 
as  to  wear  a beard,  and  even  whiskers 
and  moustache  as  well.  That  his 
clothing  was  of  a very  primitive  de- 
scription did  not  much  matter,  as  the 
Egyptians  were  not  very  particular  in 
this  respect,  but  it  must  have  looked 
intensely  comical  even  to  them,  when  the  herdsman  tried  to  beautify 
himself  and  put  on  a short  skirt  like  other  folk.  For  his  skirt  was  not 
of  soft  white  linen,  but  of  stiff  yellow  matting,  which  would  in  no  way 
bend  to  the  right  shape,  and  the  artists  enjoyed  depicting  the  wonderful 
folds  of  the  front  flap  of  this  skirt  over  the  shepherd’s  legs.  His  skirt 
would  take  every  shape  except  the  right  one.1 

These  men  lived  in  the  marshes  with  the  cows  ; they  had  no  settled 
home,  for  their  reed  huts  could  be  moved  from  place  to  place  when  needful. 
The  Greek  description  of  them  in  late  times  corresponds  very  nearly  with 
the  representations  on  the  monuments  of  the  Old  Empire  more  than 
two  thousand  years  earlier.2  In  our  illustration,  for  instance,  it  is  evening 
and  the  work  is  at  an  end  ; some  of  the  men  are  squatting  round  the  low 


HERDSMAN  LEADING  AN  OX 
(after  L.  D. , ii.  69). 


1 Brugsch  has  already  remarked  that  the  sochte  are  not  field  labourers  but  marshmen.  For  the 
wise  sayings  of  a sochte  see  p.  372.  I have  identified  them  with  the  herdsmen,  bird-catchers,  fishers, 
described  by  Wilkinson  (i.  289)  as  “caricatures.”  Costume  of  these  men:  L.  D.,  ii.  12,  50,  54, 
66,  69,  70,  96  (yellow),  105.  Hair:  Diim.  Res.,  8,  9 ; L.  D.,  ii.  45  c,  66,  69,  96;  Perrot,  33. 
Beard:  L.  D.,  ii.  69,  96.  Under  the  M.  E.  (L.  D.,  ii.  127,  131,  132)  the  herdsmen  look  like 
ordinary  Egyptians.  Each  herd  of  this  time  is  under  the  “chief  of  a thousand,”  and  the  “super- 
intendent of  a thousand  ” (ib.  132). 

- Cp.  Perrot,  36  (L.  D.,  ii.  66,  77  ; L.  D.,  ii.  77,  gives  the  continuation  of  the  Perrot  picture  ; 
in  the  latter  the  herdsman  who  was  represented  as  asleep,  has  waked  up,  and  his  dog  is  also  awake 
and  is  looking  tow'ards  his  master). 


440 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


hearth  roasting  their  geese  on  wooden  spits  at  the  fire  ; one  has  not  got 
so  far  and  is  only  plucking  his  goose.  Others  are  occupying  themselves 
either  with  plaiting  papyrus  reeds  or  cooking  dough  for  the  cattle. 
Another  man  is  comfortably  asleep.  He  sat  down  on  his  mat  when  he  came 
home  and  fell  asleep  there  with  his  shepherd’s  crook  still  in  his  hand  ; his 
dog  with  the  long  ears  and  the  pointed  muzzle  has  followed  his  master’s 


HERDSMEN  OUT  IN  THE  COUNTRY. 

Relief  of  the  time  of  the  Old  Empire  at  Gizeh  (after  Perrot-Chipiez). 


example  and  has  gone  to  sleep  at  his  feet.  A large  jug,  a basket  with 
some  small  vessels,  and  a few  papyrus  mats  are  all  the  goods  required  for 
our  herdsman’s  housekeeping.1 

The  Egyptian  herdsmen  seem  to  have  had  no  delight  in  the  romance 
of  this  life  in  the  marshes  ; doubtless  they  longed  for  the  comforts  of 
their  houses  at  home.  It  was  a joyful  day  when  they  “ went  out  of  the 
north  country  ” and  drove  their  cattle  “ upwards.”  However  troublesome 
it  might  be  to  cross  the  many  branches  of  the  river  on  their  way  from  the 


a herd  of  oxen  taken  through  the  water  (Old  Empire  picture.  After  L.  D. , ii.  60). 


north  country,  nothing  was  a trouble  on  that  day;  in  spite  of  all  vexations, 
we  are  assured  by  an  inscription  that  “ this  herdsman  is  very  merry.”  2 
If  the  water  were  shallow  enough  it  was  not  much  trouble  to  wade  through 
it  with  the  oxen,  at  most  the  herdsman  had  only  to  carry  the  little  calf 
through  on  his  back.  It  was  worse  when  a deeper  stream  had  to  be 

1 The  object  seen,  for  instance,  behind  each  of  the  men  who  are  plaiting,  is  a kind  of  reed  collar 
which  was  hung  with  a fringe  round  the  neck  of  the  oxen  ; the  crook  and  this  collar  form  the 
attributes  proper  to  the  herdsman.  Cp.  e.g.  the  picture  of  L.  D.,  ii.  132  ; W.,  ii.  84,  100,  and  the 

hieroglyphic  sign  . 

2 Ilome-coming  of  the  cattle  from  the  north  country:  L.  D.,  ii.  12,  60,  105;  Diim.  Res.,  9; 
Perrot,  32-33  ; Biideker,  413;  Brugsch,  Gr.  W.,  145,  146. 


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XVII 


AGRICULTURE 


441 


crossed.  Then,  as  vve  see,  nolens  volens,  the  herd  has  to  swim  ; a few 
herdsmen  cross  first  in  a boat,  and  encourage  the  tired  animals  by  their 
cries  ; they  drag  the  calves  through  the  water  by  their  fore-feet.  Another 
boat  follows  the  animals  so  as  to  keep  the  herd  together.  The  herdsmen, 
however,  are  powerless  to  protect  them  against  one  serious  danger,  and  if 
the  crocodile  that  we  see  lying  in  the  water  near  the  cows  has  the  courage 
to  attack  them,  it  will  be  scarcely  possible  to  drive  him  off  his  prey. 

It  is  doubtful  whether,  after  all,  the  herdsmen  will  enjoy  the  longed- 
for  joys  of  home,  for  there  a business  awaits  them  from  which  it  is  hardly 
possible  to  banish  vexation.  Scarcely  have  they  arrived,  and  handed 
over  to  the  master  a couple  of  young  gazelles  or  pretty  birds  as  a present, 
when  important  personages  appear  on  the  scene- — the  scribes  of  the  property, 
— “ in  order  to  look  at  the  accounts  of  the  herdsmen.”  Now  follows 
the  reckoning  as  to  how  many  head  of  each  breed  and  of  each  class, 
arranged  according  to  their  age,  are  forthcoming  ; of  the  “ first  cows  of  the 
herd  ” (i.e.  of  leading  cows),  of  “ young  cattle,”  of  calves  and  of  their 
“ mothers.”  1 The  cattle  also  have  to  be  led  before  the  master  ; 2 an  endless 
succession  of  oxen,  goats,  donkeys,  and  sheep.  The  chief  scribe  then 
hands  to  the  master  a long  piece  of  writing,  and  explains  to  him  that, 
according  to  it,  he  may  call  his  own  no  less  than  835  long-horned  and 
220  hornless  cattle,  760  donkeys,  974  sheep,  and  2234  goats. 

We  see  from  this  example  that  the  proprietors  of  the  Old  Empire 
not  only  possessed  large  herds  of  oxen,  but  also  sometimes  as  many  as 
1300  cows,3  and  also  a considerable  number  of  small  stock.  The  ancient 
Egyptians  however,  with  their  great  admiration  for  oxen,  never  grew  weary 
of  representing  them  again  and  again,  while  they  rarely  give  us  pictures 
of  sheep,4  goats,5  or  donkeys.6  Yet  both  the  buck  and  the  ram  are  noble 
animals  with  beautiful  twisted  horns, — the  latter  also  had  the  honour  of 
representing  a mighty  god.  Pictures  of  pigs  are  rarely  found  on  the 
monuments,  and  had  we  not  learned  from  one  of  the  chapters  of  the 
ancient  Book  of  the  Dead  that  the  god  Set  once  assumed  the  shape  of 
this  animal,  we  might  doubt  whether  they  ever  existed  in  Egypt. 

In  addition  to  the  domestic  animals  proper,  such  as  oxen,  sheep,  goats, 
etc.,  the  herds  of  the  great  men  in  Egypt  contained  many  kinds  of  wild 
ruminants.  These  were  taken  either  by  the  lasso  or  the  greyhounds 
in  the  desert  or  mountains,  and  were  brought  up  together  with  the  cattle  ; 
thus  in  all  the  pictures  of  the  Old  Empire  we  meet  with  the  antelope  and 
the  ibex  amongst  the  oxen  ; the  maud.'  also,  with  its  long  sword -like 

1 “ First  bull  of  the  herd  ” : L.  D.,  ii.  61.  “ Young  cattle”  (ren)  of  the  zjma:  L.  D.,  ii.  61,  66, 

91,  102  b,  etc.  ; of  the  hrecTeb'a:  L.  D.,  ii.  105  ; of  the  neg : L.  D.,  ii.  91.  “Mother-cows”  ; 
L.  D.,  ii.  102  a.  “Calves”:  L.  D.,  ii.  31,  66,  77  (sucking),  96,  102,  105  ; Diirn.  Res.,  9,  etc. 

2 The  herds  brought  for  inspection:  L.  D.,  ii.  9,  31.  Under  the  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  131-132. 

Cp.  also  pictures,  such  as  : L.  D.,  ii.  91,  102  a,  b,  etc.,  though  they  really  refer  to  the  supplies  for 
the  worship  of  the  dead.  3 L.  D.,  ii.  105. 

4 Sheep  brought  out  for  inspection  before  the  master  : L.  D.,  ii.  9 ; M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  132. 

5 Goats  brought  out  for  inspection  : L.  D.,  ii.  9 ; Perrot,  37  ; M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  132. 

6 Donkeys  brought  out  for  inspection  : L.  D.,  ii.  9 ; M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  132. 


442 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


horns,  the  graceful  gahs,  and  the  nudu,  the  s/ies,  with  its  lyre-shaped  horns, 
and  the  noble  ibex,  the  n' eafu)  They  are  always  reckoned  with  the 
cattle  ; like  the  oxen,  the  animals  when  full  grown  are  described  as  “ young 
cattle,”  they  are  also  tied  up  to  pegs  and  fattened  with  dough  after  the  same 
process  as  that  carried  out  with  oxen."  The  flesh  of  a fat  antelope  must 
have  been  considered  as  particularly  good  when  roasted,  for  we  nearly 
always  find  the  antelope  amongst  the  sacrificial  animals. 

The  Egyptians  provided  themselves  with  birds  in  the  same  easy  way  ; 
the  bird-catchers  caught  the  geese  in  the  marshes  in  their  large  traps,  they 
were  then  reared  and  fattened.  The  Egyptians,  at  any  rate  in  the 
early  period,  had  no  tame  birds.  Why  should  they  take  the  trouble  to 
breed  them  when  the  bird-catcher  could  get  them  with  so  little  trouble?1 2 3 
An  immense  number  of  European  birds  of  passage  “ inundate  Egypt  with 
their  cloud-like  swarms,”  and  winter  every  year  in  the  marshes  with  the 
numberless  indigenous  water-birds.  For  this  reason  the  birds  of  an  ancient 
Egyptian  property  present  a more  brilliant  appearance  than  would  be 
possible  were  the  domestic  birds  represented  alone.4  We  find,  in  the  first 
place,  flocks  of  geese  and  ducks  of  various  kinds,  each  of  which  bears  its 
own  special  name.  In  addition,  there  are  all  manner  of  swans,  doves,  and 
cranes  ; the  Egyptians  evidently  took  a special  delight  in  representing  the 
different  species  of  the  latter  ; these  birds  also  seem  to  be  always  fighting 
with  each  other,  thus  forming  a contrast  to  the  peaceful  geese  and  ducks. 

As  I have  already  remarked,  the  birds  were  fattened  in  the  same  way 
as  the  cattle  ; the  fattening  bolus  was  pushed  down  the  throat  of  the  goose 
in  spite  of  its  struggles.0  This  fattening  diet  was  given  in  addition  to  the 
ordinary  feeding  ; we  can  scarcely  believe,  for  instance  (as  in  fact  it  is 
represented),  that  “ the  geese  and  doves  hasten  to  the  feeding,”  on  the 
herdsman  clapping  his  hands,  if  he  had  nothing  to  offer  them  but  those 
uncomfortable  fattening  balls  of  paste.  A picture  of  the  time  of  the  Old 
Empire  shows  us  also  that  care  was  taken  in  “ giving  drink  to  the  cranes.” 

The  description  of  cattle-breeding,  which  I have  sketched  out  above, 


1 Amongst  the  many  examples  we  may  note  as  remarkable  : the  maud’ : L.  D.,  ii.  14,  17,  24,  45, 
50,  54,  102  b.  the  gahs:  L.  D.,  ii.  14,  46,  70,  102  b;  Perrot,  37.  the  nudu  (?) ; L.  D.,  ii.  61  b,  70,  102  b: 
Diim.  Res.,  3 (male  and  female),  the  s/ies : L.  D. , ii.  70  ; Perrot,  37.  the  n'eaftt : L.  D.,  ii.  45,  46, 
61  b.  According  to  R.  Hartmann  (A.  Z.,  1864,  p.  22  f.  ; Diim.  Res.,  p.  29)  the  maud ’ is  the  oryx 
leucoryx,  the  gahs  the  antilope  dorcas,  the  nudu  the  addax  nasomaculatus,  the  shes  the  antilope 
bubalis,  the  n’eafu  the  ibex  nubianus. 

2 Fattening  of  antelopes  : L.  D.,  ii.  102  b.  Under  the  M.  F.  : L.  D. , ii.  132. 

3 Pictures  such  as  L.  D.,  ii.  132,  show  us  that  geese  were  snared  by  the  bird-catcher;  the 
flocks  of  geese  are  not  there  reckoned  amongst  the  farm  animals,  but  form  part  of  the  picture 
centring  round  the  bird-catcher. 

4 Good  representations  of  geese  of  various  kinds,  etc.,  with  their  names  attached:  L.  D.,  ii. 
61  b,  70  ; Diim.  Res.,  9 ; Prisse  Hist,  de  l’Art.  Atlas.  Doves : Diim.  Res. , 3 ; L.  D. , ii.  70.  Cranes : 
L.  D. , ii.  17  b,  50  b,  70;  Prisse,  Hist,  de  l’Art.  Atlas. 

8 The  fattening  of  geese  is  represented  in  the  tomb  of  T'y.  Cp.  Prisse,  Hist,  de  l'Art.  Atlas,  and 
Biideker,  pp.  404,  405.  The  inscriptions  appertaining  thereto  are  given  fully  in  Brugsch,  Gr.  \\., 
4-9,  1 1 - 1 4,  17-21,  as  well  as  those  relating  to  the  supplies  of  food  and  drink.  It  is  not  clear, 
however,  to  what  the  words  “ four  times  a day  I feed”  (ib.  15)  refer.  Of  the  time  of  the  M.  E.  : 
L.  D.,  ii.  132. 


INSPECTION  OF  THE  FLOCKS  OF  GEESE  AND  OF  THEIR  HERDSMEN  BY  A HIGH  OFFICIAL. 

Below  on  the  left  is  the  scribe  who  is  presenting  the  list.  Behind  him  the  herdsmen,  who  press  forward  wishing  to  speak.  They  are  desired  to  be  quiet  by  two 
overseers  : “ Sit  still  and  do  not  speak  1”  says  one,  whilst  the  other  calls  out  to  the  man  with  the  basket  : “ Do  not  hasten  so  with  thy  feet,  thou  with  the  geese  1 . . . 
Dost  thou  not  know  of  any  other  time  for  thy  discourse?"  Above,  the  remains  of  a similar  representation  may  be  seen. 

(Theban  tomb-picture  of  the  time  of  the  New  Empire  in  the  British  Museum.)  {To  face  page  442. 


XVII 


AGRICULTURE 


443 


is  founded  on  the  reliefs  of  the  Old  and  the  Middle  Empire,  where  this 
theme  is  treated  with  evident  predilection.  What  we  know  of  the  subject 
of  later  date  is  comparatively  little  ; 1 other  matters  seem  to  have  been 
more  interesting  to  the  great  men  of  the  New  Empire.  Cattle-breeding 
seems  however  to  have  forfeited  none  of  its  old  importance  in  the 
country,  for  we  still  hear  of  enormous  numbers  of  cattle.  The  Egyptian 
temples  alone,  during  the  space  of  thirty-one  years,  are  said  to  have  received 
514,968  head  of  cattle  and  680,714  geese;  this  denotes,  as  far  as  I can 
judge,  that  live-stock  were  kept  in  far  greater  numbers  than  at  the 
present  day. 

In  addition  to  the  principal  breed  of  cows,  viz.  the  old  long-horned  race 
which  still  exists  in  the  Nile  valley,2  there  appears  to  have  been  another 
variety,  represented  in  the  accompanying  illustration,  which  seems  to  have 
come  to  the  fore  for  a time  under  the  New  Empire.  These  animals,  as  we 
see,  have  rather  short  horns  which  grow  widely  apart,  and  have  lost  their  old 
lyre  shape  ; in  some  instances  the  hump  is  strongly  developed,  and  the 
colour  of  the  skin  is  often  speckled.3  It  may  be  that  this  species  originated 
from  foreign  parts,  for  when  Egypt  ruled  over  Nubia,  and  for  a time  over 
Syria  also,  oxen  were  often  brought  into  the  Nile  valley  either  as  tribute 
or  as  spoil  from  these  countries.  Thus  the  Theban  Amon  received 
from  Thothmes  III.  a milch-cow  from  Palestine,  and  three  cows  from 
Nubia;4  and  under  Ramses  III.,  amongst  the  charges  on  his  Syrian  property, 
there  were  included  seventeen  oxen.5  Bulls  from  the  land  of  Cheta  and 
cows  from  ’Ersa  6 were  valued  especially  highly,  as  well  as  bullocks  “ from 
the  West  ” and  certain  calves  “ from  the  South.”  7 There  is  one  representa- 
tion of  Nubian  cattle,  and  amongst  them  two  remarkable  short-horned 
animals  which,  according  to  the  bar- 
barian custom,  are  drawing  the  car- 
riage of  an  Ethiopian  princess.8 

Whether  the  breeds  of  any  of  the 
other  domestic  animals  were  different 
under  the  New  Empire  we  cannot 
tell,  on  account  of  the  scanty  material 
at  our  command  ; it  is  interesting 
however  to  meet  with  a drove  of  pigs 
(see  the  accompanying  illustration). 

Probably  from  religious  reasons,  this 
animal  was  never  represented  by  the 
artists  of  the  Old  Empire.  Concerning  the  introduction  of  the  horse  and 


HERD  OF  PIGS  IN  A THEBAN  TOMB  OF  THE  TIME 
OF  the  NEW  empire  (after  W. , ii.  100). 


1 There  is,  of  course,  much  still  existing  at  Thebes  that  has  not  been  published,  but  at  the  same 
time  pictures  of  farming  operations  of  later  date  are  always  rare. 

2 Representation  of  long-horned  cows  under  the  N.  E.  : L.  D.,  iii.  10  a ; W.,  ii.  84.  We  find 
no  examples  of  hornless  cattle  in  the  pictures  of  the  N.  E. 

3 W. , i.  370  ; ii.  446.  4 I..  IX,  iii.  30  b,  8.  5 Cp.  p.  303. 

6 An.,  4,  17,  9.  7 An.,  4,  15,  5. 

8 L.  D.,  iii.  1 17.  In  addition,  long-horned  cattle  and  a gigantic  animal  with  horns  wide  apart  ; 

the  ornament  with  which  the  latter  is  adorned  is  also  used  by  the  Egyptians  for  their  oxen,  cp.  ib.  94. 


444 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


mule,  which  took  place  during  the  period  between  the  Middle  and  the 
New  Empire,  I shall  have  to  speak  in  the  19th  chapter. 

We  know  little  of  the  details  of  cattle-breeding  under  the  New 
Empire,  of  how  the  herds  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  with  the  oxen, 
geese,  and  small  stock,  were  increased  by  the  hundred  thousand.1  The 
“ herdsmen  take  care  of  them  and  carry  herbs  to  the  oxen,” 2 they  are 


still  fattened  according  to  ancient  custom,3  and  they  are  branded  with  the 
stamp  of  the  department  to  which  they  belong.4  The  ’ehay,5  which  is 
often  mentioned  at  this  time  as  the  place  where  the  cattle  were  kept  at 
night,  must  have  been  an  open  fold  ; and,  in  fact,  a picture  at  Tell  el 
Amarna  shows  us  the  oxen  lying  in  an  open  yard.6 

As  regards  the  rearing  and  feeding  of  the  domesticated  water-birds, 
if  we  can  rely  upon  the  argumentum  ex  silentio,  the  Egyptians  seem  to 
have  confined  their  attention  to  geese  alone  ; the  goose  in  fact  held  the 
first  place  amongst  the  farm  birds,  in  the  same  way  as  the  ox  did  amongst 
the  cattle.  In  the  texts  of  this  period  geese  arc  frequently  mentioned, 
and  in  the  beautiful  picture  shown  in  the  plate  we  have  just  given,  we  see 
exactly  how  the  lists  of  these  birds,  which  were  very  valuable  for  food, 
were  brought  to  the  proprietor.  The  goose  was  not  always  kept  for  such  a 
material  purpose,  and  those  who  are  fortunate  enough  to  come  across  the 
tomb  of  a certain  Bek’e  belonging  to  the  beginning  of  the  New  Empire,  in 
the  necropolis  of  Dra-abul-nega  at  Thebes,  may  there  observe  that  the 
wife  of  this  man,  instead  of  a pet  dog  or  little  monkey  to  play  with, 
preferred  a big  goose.7 

1 Harr.,  i.  7,  9.  In  this  passage  the  officials  of  the  herds  of  Amon  are  called  (i)  the 

2 lb.  3 W.,  i.  370.  4 Cp.  with  the  above  illustration  W.,  ii.  84. 

5 D’Orb.,  1,7;  An.,  4,  3,  11  ; An.,  4,  13,  4 for  oxen  ; An.,  3,  6,  5 for  horses.  The  same  word 

is  used  for  the  camp  of  the  army. 

W.,  i.  370,  a court,  at  the  back  of  which  are  thirteen  small  rooms. 

7 From  my  own  notes ; the  inhabitant  of  the  tomb  bears  no  title. 


superintendent  of  the  oxen  ; (2)  the  scribe  ; (3)  t 


©■ 


^;(4l^pU 


XVII 


AGRICULTURE 


445 


I cannot  close  this  description  of  Egyptian  husbandry  without 
referring  to  one  curious  circumstance.  Everything  tends  to  show  that  the 
Egyptians  themselves  felt  that  agriculture,  together  with  cattle-breeding,  was 
the  most  important  industry  for  the  country.  Nevertheless,  the  prestige  of 
this  idea  had  no  influence  upon  the  position  of  the  agricultural  labourer,  who 
was  always  looked  down  upon  as  a poor  hard-worked  creature.  The 
following  sad  sketch  of  the  lot  of  the  harvestmen  was  written  by  the 
compiler  of  a didactic  letter,  of  which  many  copies  are  extant,  and 
implies  not  only  a personal  opinion  but  the  general  view  of  this  matter:1 
“ The  worm  has  taken  the  half  of  the  food,  the  hippopotamus  the  other 
half ; there  were  many  mice  in  the  fields,  the  locusts  have  come  down, 
and  the  cattle  have  eaten,  and  the  sparrows  have  stolen.  Poor  miserable 
agriculturist ! What  was  left  on  the  threshing-floor  thieves  made  away 
with.  . . . Then  the  scribe  lands  on  the  bank  to  receive  the  harvest,  his 
followers  carry  sticks  and  the  negroes  carry  palm  rods.  They  say,  ‘ Give 
up  the  corn’ — there  is  none  there.  Then  they  beat  him  as  he  lies 
stretched  out  and  bound  on  the  ground,  they  throw  him  into  the  canal 
and  he  sinks  down,  head  under  water.  His  wife  is  bound  before  his  eyes 
and  his  children  are  put  in  fetters.  His  neighbours  run  away  to  escape 
and  to  save  their  corn.”  This  is,  of  course,  an  exaggerated  picture,  which 
is  purposely  overdrawn  by  the  writer,  in  order  to  emphasise  the  striking 
contrast  that  he  draws  in  his  eulogy  of  the  profession  of  scribe  ; in  its  main 
features  however  it  gives  us  a very  true  idea,  for  the  lot  of  the  ancient  peasant 
very  much  resembled  that  of  the  modern  fellah.  The  latter  labours  and 
toils  without  enjoying  the  results  of  his  own  work.  He  earns  a scanty 
subsistence,  and,  notwithstanding  all  his  industry,  he  gains  no  great 
renown  amongst  his  countrymen  of  the  towns  ; the  best  they  can  say  of 
him  is,  that  he  is  worthy  to  be  compared  with  his  own  cattle.'2 

1 An.,  5,  15,  6 fF.  =Sall.  1,5,  1 1 ft'.  The  text  of  both  is  in  great  confusion. 

2 This  applies  to  the  state  of  Egypt  a few  years  ago,  before  the  abolition  of  the  corvee. 


yoke  for  oxen  (after  W. , ii.  392). 


golden  hawk  with  enamelled  WINGS  (Louvre.  After  Perrot-Chipiez). 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 

The  low  esteem  in  which  the  Egyptians  held  their  agriculturists  extended 
also  to  their  craftsmen.  According  to  the  learned  opinion  of  the  scribes, 
the  latter  were  also  poor  creatures  who  led  an  inglorious  existence,  half 
pitiable  and  half  ridiculous.  Thus  a poet  of  the  Middle  Empire  speaks, 
for  example,  of  the  metal-worker  : — 

“ I have  never  seen  the  smith  as  an  ambassador, 

Or  the  goldsmith  carry  tidings  ; 

Yet  1 have  seen  the  smith  at  his  work 
At  the  mouth  of  his  furnace, 

His  fingers  were  like  crocodile  (hide), 

He  stank  more  than  the  roe  of  fish.”  1 

The  same  scribe  also  thus  describes  the  work  of  a wood-carver  : — 

“Each  artist  who  works  with  the  chisel 
Tires  himself  more  than  he  who  hoes  (a  field). 

The  wood  is  his  field,  of  metal  are  his  tools. 

In  the  night — is  he  free  ? 

He  works  more  than  his  arms  are  able, 

In  the  night — he  lights  a light.”  2 


Fortunately  we  are  not  dependent  on  these  gloomy  sources  to  form 

1 Sail.,  2,  4,  6 ff.  - Sail.,  2,  4,  8 ff.  The  translation  of  the  fourth  line  is  very  uncertain. 


CHAP.  XVIII 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 


447 


our  opinion  of  Egyptian  handicrafts,  for  the  work  of  the  metal-workers 
and  wood-carvers  which  still  exists  shows  that  these  industries  reached  a 
very  high  standard  in  Egypt,  a comparatively  far  higher  one  in  point  of 
fact  than  either  learning  or  literature.  The  workmen  who  created  those 
marvels  of  gold  and  ivory,  of  porcelain  and  wood,  the  finish  of  which  we 
admire  to  this  day,  cannot  have  been  such  wretched  creatures  as  they 
were  considered  by  the  proud  learned  professors. 

The  direction  followed  by  the  mechanical  arts  of  a country  is  essen- 
tially determined  by  the  materials  found  in  that  country.  It  was  of  the 
greatest  consequence  for  Egyptian  industrial  arts  that  one  of  the  most  useful 
plants  the  world  has  ever  known  grew  in  every  marsh.  The  papyrus  reed 
was  used  as  a universal  material  by  the  Egyptians,  like  the  bamboo  or 
the  coco-nut  palm  by  other  nations  ; it  was  the  more  useful  as  it  formed 
a substitute  for  wood,  which  was  never  plentiful.  The  reeds  were  pulled 
up  by  the  stalks  in  the  marshes,1  by  labourers  who  worked  nude  and  who 
afterwards  brought  them  to  the  workshops  tied  up  in  bundles.  From  the 
papyrus,  boats  were  manufactured,'1  mats  were  plaited,  rope  was  twisted, 
sandals  were  prepared;1  but  above  all  the  papyrus  supplied  the  material  for 
paper.  For  the  latter  purpose  the  stem  was  cut  into  thin  strips  of  the  length 
required,  and  a second  layer  of  similar  strips  was  then  placed  crosswise  over 
these;  the  leaves  thus  formed  were  then  pressed,4  dried,  and,  if  a larger  piece 
were  required,  pasted  together.  Numberless  papyri,  of  which  some  are  as 
old  as  the  Middle  Empire,  testify  to  the  perfection  attained  in  this 
manufacture,  even  at  an  early  date;5  and  it  is  well  known  to  what  an 
extent  it  was  carried  on  in  Graeco-Roman  times,  when  it  formed  one  of  the 
chief  articles  of  export.  During  the  periods  with  which  we  are  occupied, 
papyrus  paper  can  never  have  been  very  cheap,  for  in  the  first  place  the 
Egyptians  often  made  use  of  each  roll  several  times  by  washing  off  the 
former  writing,  and  secondly,  for  rough  drafts  or  unimportant  matters 
they  made  out  with  a cheaper  writing  material  such  as  potsherds  or 
pieces  of  limestone. 

As  I have  already  mentioned,  the  papyrus  served  for  the  preparation 
of  rough  mats  and  ropes,  though  for  this  purpose  they  also  possessed 
another  excellent  material  in  palm  bast.  In  the  plaiting  of  these  mats, 
which  were  indispensable  to  spread  over  the  mud  floors  of  Egyptian 
houses,  they  were  evidently  very  skilful  ; this  is  shown  by  the  stripes  of 
rich  ornamentation  found  particularly  on  the  ceilings  of  the  tombs,  which 
doubtless  originally  represented  a covering  of  matting.6  The  examples 

1 Papyrus  harvest  : O.  E. , L.  D.,  ii.  106  a.  Diim.  Res.,  8. 

2 Cp.  pp.  479,  480.  3 Cp.  pp.  227,  228. 

3 Or  rather  made  smooth  by  beating  and  pressing  : hence  the  soldier  who  has  to  endure  much 
beating  is  compared  with  a book,  An.,  4,  9,  7. 

5 The  papyrus  rolls  still  existing  are  of  very  different  kinds  ; a comprehensive  examination  of 
them  is  still  needed. 

8 The  weaving  of  a carpet  shows  the  same  principle:  Ros.  M.  C.,  41,  5 ( = \V.,  ii.  170,  N.  E.). 
On  the  use  of  matting,  cp.  pp.  1 86,  1S7.  Their  style  and  their  universal  formation  in  rectangular 
stripes  show,  irrespective  of  Perrot,  PI.  14,  that  the  well-known  ornamentation  in  the  tombs 
is  derived  from  the  patterns  of  carpeting. 


448 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


already  shown  (pp.  79,  162,  397,  479)  will  give  an  idea  of  the  kind  of  work 
referred  to  here.  Bright  colours  were  always  employed  ; 1 the  same  style 
and  colouring  may  also  be  seen  in  the  pretty  baskets  brought  to  our 
museums  from  the  Theban  tombs  ; these  are  plaited  in  patterns  of  various 
coloured  fibres.2 

This  fondness  for  coloured  patterns  was  nevertheless  confined  to  the 
weaving  of  the  coarser  materials  ; colour  and  pattern  were  almost  excluded 
from  the  finer  stuffs  manufactured  for  clothing.3  In  the  latter  materials 
they  lavished  all  their  skill  in  the  one  endeavour  to  prepare  the  finest  and 
whitest  linen  that  was  possible,  and  they  certainly  brought  their  linen  to 
great  perfection  ; I need  only  remind  my  readers  of  the  white  garments 
worn  by  men  of  rank,  which  were  so  fine  that  their  limbs  could  be  seen 


TO  THE  RIGHT  THE  SPINNING  AND  UNRAVELLING  OF  THE  FLAX,  TO  THE  LEFT  THE  WEAVING.  THE 
OLD  FAT  MAN  STANDING  BY  THE  LOOM  IS  THE  OVERSEER  OF  THIS  WORK  (Beni  Hasan.  After 
L.  D.,  ii.  126). 

gleaming  through  them.  Some  of  this  very  fine  linen  that  we  possess 
is  almost  comparable  to  our  silken  materials  for  smoothness  and  softness  ;4 
the  manufacture  at  all  periods  of  the  stronger  and  coarser  linens  was  also 
often  most  excellent.  The  Egyptians  were  conscious  themselves  that 
they  excelled  in  weaving,  for  many  inscriptions  extol  the  garments  of  the 
gods  and  the  bandages  for  the  dead.  The  preparation  of  clothes  was 
considered  as  a rule  to  be  woman’s  work,  for  truly  the  great  goddesses 
Isis  and  Nephthys  had  spun,  woven,  and  bleached  clothes  for  their  brother 
and  husband  Osiris.5  Under  the  Old  Empire  this  work  fell  to  the 
household  slaves,  in  later  times  to  the  wives  of  the  peasant  serfs  belonging 
to  the  great  departments.6  In  both  cases  it  was  the  house  of  silver  to 
which  the  finished  work  had  to  be  delivered,  and  a picture  of  the  time  of 

1 Cp.  the  coloured  representations  : L.  D.,  i.  41  ; W. , i.  PI.  8 ; Ros.  M.  C. , 71  ; Prisse,  28. 

- Baskets  of  this  kind,  e.g.  Berlin  Museum,  9631.  The  patterns  very  nearly  resemble  those  of 
the  modern  Nubian  baskets.  3 Exceptions,  cp.  p.  217. 

4 Cp.  e.g.  the  bandages  of  King  Pepy  and  King  Merenre’  of  the  6th  dynasty  in  the  Berlin 
Museum,  also  the  transparent  overdress  of  the  time  of  the  New  Empire  in  the  same  museum,  No.  741. 

6 Brugsch,  Wb.  Suppl.,  637.  fi  Cp.  p.  ill. 


XVIII 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 


449 


the  Old  Empire 1 shows  us  the  treasury  officials  packing  the  linen  in 
low  wooden  boxes,  which  are  long  enough  for  the  pieces  not  to  be  folded. 
Each  box  contains  but  one  sort  of  woven  material,  and  is  provided  below 
with  poles  on  which  it  is  carried  by  two  masters  of  the  treasury  into 
the  house  of  silver.  In  other  cases  we  find,  as  Herodotos  wonderingly 
describes,  men  working  at  the  loom  ; and  indeed  on  the  funerary  stelae 
of  the  20th  dynasty  at  Abydos,  we  twice  meet  with  men  who  call 
themselves  weavers  and  follow  this  calling  as  their  profession.'2 

The  operation  of  weaving  was  a very  simple  one  under  the  Middle 
Empire.  The  warp  of  the  texture  was  stretched  horizontally  between 
the  two  beams,  which  were  fastened  to  pegs  on  the  floor,  so  that  the 
weaver  had  to  squat  on  the  ground.  Two  bars  pushed  in  between  the 
threads  of  the  warp  served  to  keep  them  apart  ; the  woof-thread  was 
passed  through  and  pressed  down  firmly  by  means  of  a bent  piece  of 
wood.3  A picture  of  the  time 
of  the  New  Empire 4 how- 
ever gives  an  upright  loom 
with  a perpendicular  frame. 

The  lower  beam  appears  to 
be  fastened,  but  the  upper 
one  hangs  only  by  a loop, 
in  order  to  facilitate  the 
stretching  of  the  warp.  We 
also  see  little  rods  which  are 
used  to  separate  the  threads 
of  the  warp ; one  of  these 
certainly  serves  for  a shuttle. 

A larger  rod  that  runs  through 
loops  along  the  side  beams 
of  the  frame  appears  to  serve  to  fix  the  woof-thread,  like  the  reed  of  our 
looms. 

As  this  industry  in  Egypt  consisted  entirely  in  the  weaving  of  linen, 
the  culture  and  preparation  of  flax  were  of  considerable  importance.  It  is 
again  from  pictures  of  the  time  of  the  Middle  Empire  that  we  learn  the 
mode  of  its  preparation.5  The  flax  stalks  were  first  boiled  in  a large 
curiously-shaped  vessel — a process  which  evidently,  like  our  roasting,  was 
intended  to  loosen  their  outer  covering  ; they  were  then  beaten  (as  at  the 
present  day)  with  hammers,  till  the  outside  was  loosed  and  destroyed. 
The  flax  thus  obtained  was  still  mixed  with  bits  of  the  outside  and  with 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  96.  - Their  wives  are  singers  of  Osiris,  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab. , 1175,  1187. 

:!  Weaving  : L.  D.,  ii.  126  (=W.,  i.  3i7  = Ros.  M.  C.,  41,  6 = Champ.  Mon.,  381  bis) ; Ros.,  41, 
4 ( = W.,  ii.  170).  Erroneously  given  as  originating  from  Gurnah,  ib.  41,  5,  repeated  in  more  correct 
drawing.  Setting  up  the  loom:  Ros.  M.  C. , 41,  3,  42,  4,  5.  According  to  Ros.  M.  C. , text  ii. 
25,  Rosellini  had  seen  ten  representations  of  weaving. 

4 W.,  ii.  17 1,  in  spite  of  the  explanation  given,  ib.  p.  ix,  obscure  in  many  respects. 

5 Boiling  and  beating  : Ros.  M.  C.,  41,  I.  Unravelling  (Egypt,  msn)  : L.  D.,  ii.  126  ( = W.,  i. 
317),  and  Ros.  M.  C.,  41,  2,  3.  Spinning  : L.  D.,  ii.  126  ; W.,  i.  317  ; Ros.  M.  C.,  41,  2,  4. 

2 G 


UPRIGHT  LOOM  OF  THE  NEW  EMPIRE 
(after  W.,  ii.  171). 


450 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


other  impurities,  and  had  to  be  separated  from  this  rubbish  before  it  could 
be  used.  In  later  times  it  was  cleaned  with  a comb  much  after  the 
modern  method  ; 1 we  do  not  find  this  process  represented  however  in 
the  old  pictures  ; according  to  them  the  flax  seems  to  have  been  cleaned 
by  hand, — the  good  fibres  were  carefully  picked  out  and  laid  together  to 
form  a loose  thread.  This  thread  was  then  moistened,  and  twisted 
together  more  firmly  by  means  of  the  spindle.  Close  by  on  the  ground 
stood  the  pot  in  which  lay  the  rough  threads  ; and  the  person  spinning 
allowed  the  thread  to  run  over  his  raised  hand  or  over  a fork.  In  the 
tombs  of  the  Middle  Empire  we  find  wonderful  feats  performed  in  the 
way  of  spinning, — we  see  women  managing  two  spindles  at  the  same  time 
and  even  twisting  each  of  the  two  threads  from  two  different  sorts  of  flax. 
To  do  this  they  are  obliged  to  balance  themselves  on  a stool,  and  to  take 
off  every  unnecessary  article  of  clothing  for  fear  the  two  spindles  and  the 
threads  should  get  entangled. 

The  working  up  of  the  threads  into  rope  is  shown  by  two  pictures, 
which,  though  belonging  to  different  epochs,  yet  represent  essentially  the 
same  procedure.  A workman  seated  on  the  floor  keeps  the  threads  in  the 
right  position  with  his  hand,  while  the  rope-maker  walks  backwards,  twist- 
ing them  together.  For  this  purpose  he  apparently  uses  a reed,  through 
which  he  lets  the  threads  run,  and  to  which  he  gives  a rotating  movement  ; 
a weight  hanging  on  the  reed,  and  swinging  with  it,  increases  its  power  of 
rotation.2  We  see  by  a picture  of  the  time  of  the  Middle  Empire  3 that, 
in  making  nets  also,  balls  are  tied  on  to  the  ends  of  the  threads  ; these 
would  naturally  give  them  a quicker  and  more  vigorous  twist. 

Ancient  Egypt  was  exceedingly  rich  in  skins,  the  result  of  the  stock- 
breeding  so  extensively  carried  on  in  that  country.  The  inhabitants 
were  well  aware  of  their  value  ; they  considered  the  skin  indeed  to  be 
such  an  important  part  of  the  animal,  that  in  their  writing  the  sign  of  a 
skin  indicated  all  mammiferous  animals.  Beautiful  skins,  especially  such 
as  were  gaily  spotted,  were  never  denuded  of  the  hair,  but  were  manu- 
factured into  shields,  quivers,  and  clothing  (see  p.  205),  or  were  employed 
in  the  houses  as  coverings  for  seats.  The  “ skins  of  the  panther  of  the 
south  ” were  valued  very  highly  ; they  were  brought  from  the  upper  Nile 
and  from  the  incense  countries. 

Less  valuable  skins,  such  as  those  of  oxen,  gazelles,  etc.,  were  manu- 
factured into  leather  ; the  leathern  objects  which  have  been  found  in  the 
tombs  prove  to  what  a degree  of  excellence  this  industry  attained,  especially 
under  the  New  Empire.  Of  this  period  our  museums  possess  examples 
of  every  kind  of  leather, — coarse  leather  and  fine  leather,  the  former  manu- 
factured into  sandals,  the  latter  into  aprons  and  straps  ; white  leather 
made  into  a kind  of  parchment  and  used  like  the  papyrus  for  writing 

1 Flax-combs  : Berlin,  6810,  6812. 

2 O.  E.  : Diim.  Res.  8.  N.  E.  : Ros.  M.  C.,  65  (=W.,  ii.  178),  from  Thebes.  In  the  first 
case  the  weight  is  certainly  there,  though  the  reed  seems  to  be  absent. 

3 Ros.  M.  C.,  41,  4 ( = 41,  5 = W.,  ii.  170). 


XVIII 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 


45i 


material  ; also  fine  coloured  leather  stamped  with  an  ornamental  pattern 
which  was  used  for  the  ends  of  linen  bands.  Though,  as  far  as  I know, 
we  possess  no  leathern  articles  of  the  older  period,  yet  we  see  by  the 
brightly-coloured  patterns  on  the  belts  of  the  statues,  that  the  workmen 
of  the  Old  Empire  understood  their  craft  as  well  as  those  of  later  date. 
We  do  not  know  what  process  the  Egyptians  used  in  the  dressing  of  skins, 
though  pictures  of  all  periods  represent  men  working  at  the  leather  trade.1 
We  first  see  how  they  soften  the  leather  in  great  vessels,  how  they  then 
beat  it  smooth  with  a stone,  and  finally  stretch  and  pull  it  with  their  hands 
over  a three-legged  wooden  frame  until  it  has  attained  the  necessary 
suppleness.  The  shoemaker  now  takes  the  prepared  leather,  and  puts 
it  on  his  sloping  work-table,  and  cuts  it  into  soles  or  straps  : for  this 
purpose  he  uses  the  same  kind  of  knife  with  the  curved  blade  and  short 
handle  which  is  in  use  at  the  present  day.  The  necessary  holes  are  then 
bored  with  an  awl,  and  the  straps  are  drawn  through.  The  workman  was 
accustomed  to  do  this  with  his  teeth.  After  being  fastened  with  knots, 
the  simplest  form  of  sandal  was  complete.  We  possess  small  monuments 
erected  by  shoemakers  of  the  time  of  the  New  Empire,  which  prove  to  us 
that  these  tradesmen  held  a certain  social  position.  The  most  remarkable 
of  these  is  the  small  statue  2 of  a “ chief  of  the  shoemakers,”  representing 
this  gallant  kneeling,  dressed  in  the  shend! ot  which,  under  the  New  Empire, 
the  higher  craftsmen  had  a right  to  wear.3  The  learned  poet  of  old 
certainly  overdrew  his  picture  when  he  thus  wrote  of  the  shoemaker  : “ He 
is  very  wretched,  he  is  always  begging,  and  (alluding  evidently  to  the 
custom  of  drawing  the  straps  through  with  the  teeth)  what  he  bites  is 
(only)  leather.”  4 

In  various  places  I have  alluded  to  the  fact  that  the  ancient  Egyptians 
suffered  from  the  lack  of  good  wood  in  the  same  way  as  their  modern 
compatriots.  It  is  quite  possible  that  the  land  was  rather  better  timbered 
in  old  times,  but  the  wood  produced  was  always  of  a very  unserviceable 
nature.  Sycamore  wood  can  certainly  be  cut  into  great  blocks  and  strong 
planks  ; but  it  is  so  knotty  and  yellow  that  it  is  quite  unsuitable  for  fine 
work.  The  date  and  dom  palm  trees  only  supply  long,  and  as  a rule, 
crooked  boards  ; short  pieces  of  hard  wood  can  be  obtained  from  the 
tamarisk  bushes  on  the  edge  of  the  desert,  but  the  acacia,  which  furnished 
a serviceable  material  for  ships,  doors,  furniture,  etc.,  appears,  even  in  early 
times,  to  have  been  almost  extinct  in  Egypt  proper. 

We  are  not  surprised  therefore  that  the  Egyptians  began  at  a very 
ancient  date  to  look  about  in  foreign  countries  for  better  wood.  Thus 

1 Leather- working — O.  E.  : (a)  L.  D.,  ii.  49  b.  M.  E.  : (/>)  Ros.  M.  C.,  64,  5.  N.  E.  : ( c ) 
Ros.  M.  C.,  64,  1-3  ( = W.,  ii.  188) ; (d)  Ros.  M.  C„  64,  4;  (e)  Ros.  M.  C.,  65,  11  ; (/)  W.  ii.  187; 
( g ) Ros.  M.  C.,  44  ( — W. , i.  232).  In  the  same  places — manufacture  of  skins  into  shields:  c,  2. 
Softening  : e,  c,  2.  Beating  : a,  b,  c,  3,  d.  Stretching  : a,  b,  c,  I,  d,  g.  Work-table  : c,  I -3,  d,  g. 
Leather  work  for  a carriage  : g. 

2 Berlin  Museum,  9571,  from  Thebes.  See  also  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1174.  Ib.  1080  a “royal 

shoemaker  ” belonging  to  a family  of  rank,  if  otherwise  the  reading  is  correct.  3 See  p.  210. 


AS2 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


the  Berlin  Museum  possesses  three  great  wooden  coffins,1  belonging  to 
the  unknown  period  between  the  Old  and  the  Middle  Empire  ; they  are 
made  of  a kind  of  strong  pine-wood  which  must  have  been  brought  to 
Memphis  from  the  Syrian  mountains.  This  foreign  wood  must  always 


woodcutters  (tomb  of  Sawijet  el  meitin.  After  L.  D. , ii.  108). 


have  been  expensive,  for  native  wood  was  often  employed  even  for  orna- 
mental furniture,  and  was  painted  light  yellow  with  red  veins  so  as  to  give 
the  appearance  of  the  costly  foreign  material.2  The  native  wood  was  never 
considered  beautiful,  and,  like  limestone  and  granite,  it  was  almost  always 
covered  up  with  a layer  of  stucco  and  brightly  painted  ; the  variegated 
granite  alone  was  allowed  to  show  its  natural  colour. 


PREPARATION  OF  COFFINS  AND  OF  THE  NECESSARIES  FOR  THE  TOMB  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE 
(after  W. , iii.  PI.  lxxii. ).  The  coffins  appear  to  be  made  partly  of  the  so-called  cartonage,  for 
which  purpose  the  workman  below  to  the  left  is  bringing  strips  of  linen.  The  coffin  below  on  the 
right  is  being  polished  and  painted  (?),  a workman  is  boring  a hole  in  the  wooden  footboard. 
Above  on  the  left  a plank  is  being  sawn,  and  a leg  of  a stool  cut  with  an  adze.  Behind  lies  the 
food  for  the  men,  close  to  which  a tired-out  workman  has  seated  himself. 


When  agricultural  work  recommenced  after  the  inundation,  the 
carpenters  sallied  forth,  simultaneously  with  the  ploughmen,  to  replenish 
their  store  of  wood.3  As  at  the  present  day,  flocks  of  goats  went  out 
with  them  into  the  fields,  to  eat  the  foliage  of  the  trees  that  were 
felled.  Thus  we  see  that  where  the  axes  of  the  woodcutters  have  felled 

1 No.  7796.  2 E.g.  the  beautiful  funerary  couch  of ’Ety  at  Gizeh,  of  the  nth  dynasty. 

3 Cp.  the  pictures  of  the  N.  E.,  W.,  ii.  394  ; Perrot,  704.  Thus  in  the  modern  popular  calendar 
of  Egypt  the  “ Beginning  of  seedtime,”  is  placed  on  the  5th  of  Babe  ; the  “ Felling  of  trees  ” on  the 
10th  of  Babe.  Cp.  Lortet,  Calendrier  Copte,  Lyon,  1851  (from  the  writings  of  the  academy  there). 


XVIII 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 


453 


a sycamore  or  a palm,1  goats  are  always  represented  browsing  on  the 
young  leaves  of  the  tree.  They  have  however  to  pay  dearly  for  this  good 
food  ; this  is  a feast  day  with  the  woodcutters,  and  they  are  allowed  to 
kill  a kid.  The  little  creature  is  hung  up  on  the  boughs  upon  which  it 
had  just  been  feeding,  and  one  of  the  woodmen  cuts  it  up,  whilst  his 
companion  boils  the  water  to  cook  the  food  they  long  for  so  greedily.  The 
meal  over,  there  is  still  much  hard  work  to  be  done,  the  trunk  has  to  be 
rough-hewn,  and  afterwards,  with  a good  deal  of  trouble,  carried  home 
hanging  on  a pole.2 

The  tools  used  by  the  carpenters  and  joiners  were  of  a comparatively 
simple  nature  ; evidently  it  is  not  due  to  the  tools  that  the  work  was 
often  carried  to  such  perfection.  The  metal  part  of  all  tools  was  of 
bronze,  and  in  the  case  of  chisels  and  saws  was  let  into  the  handle,  whilst 
with  axes  and  bill-hooks  it  sufficed  to  bind  the  metal  part  to  the  handle 
with  leather  straps.  For  rough-hewing  the  Egyptians  used  an  axe,  the 
blade  of  which  was  about  the  size  of  a hand,  and  was  bent  forwards  in  a 
semicircular  form.3  Subsequent  work  was  carried  on  with  a tool  that, 
from  its  constant  employment,  might  almost  be  called  the  universal  tool 
of  Egypt.  This  is  the  adze  of  our  carpenters,  a sort  of  small  bill-hook, 
the  wooden  part  of  which  was  in  the  form  of  a pointed  angle  with  unequal 
shanks  ; the  bronze  blade  was  bound  to  the  short  shank  and  the  longer 
served  as  a handle.4  To  work  in  the  details  more  perfectly  a small  chisel 
was  used  with  a wooden  mallet  to  strike  it.5  A large  spatulate  instrument 
served  as  a plane,  with  the  broad  blade  of  which  the  workman  smoothed 
off  the  small  inequalities  of  the  wood  ; 6 lastly,  a fine  polish  was  attained 
by  continual  rubbing  with  a smooth  stone.7  The  saw,  like  our  hand-saws, 
had  but  one  handle,  and  it  was  most  tedious  work  to  cut  the  trunk  of  a 
thick  sycamore  into  planks  with  this  awkward  instrument.  As  a rule, 
the  wood  that  had  to  be  sawn  was  placed  perpendicularly  and  fastened  to  a 
post  that  was  stuck  into  the  ground,  the  part  of  the  wood  that  was  already 
sawn  was  tied  up,  so  that  its  gaping  asunder  might  not  interfere  with  the 
work.  In  very  early  times  a stick  on  which  a weight  was  hung  was  stuck 
obliquely  through  these  fastenings  ; this  was  evidently  intended  to  keep 
them  at  the  right  tension,  and  to  prevent  them  from  slipping  down.8  For 
boring,  a drill  was  employed  of  the  shape  customary  in  Egypt  even  now  ; 
the  female  screw  in  which  it  moved  was  a hollow  nut  from  the  dom  palm.9 

I O.  E. , felling  of  sycamores  : L.  D. , ii.  108  ( = Ros.  M.  C.,  28,  3-4),  ib.  1 1 1.  Relief  in  the  tomb 

of  T'y.  M.  E.,  felling  of  palms:  L.  D.,  ii.  126  ( = Ros.  M.  C.,  43,  I).  The  popularity  of  this 
scene  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  tree  with  the  goats  was  used  as  a favourite  motive  for  ornamenta- 
tion in  Egyptian  industrial  arts.  - E.g.  Ros.  M.  C.,  47. 

3 O.  E.:  Badeker,  408;  L.  D.,  ii.  108.  M.  E.:  I..  D.,  ii.  126.  N.  E. : Perrot,  842. 

4 O.  E.:  L.  D.,  ii.  49,  61,  108  ; Badeker,  40S,  409.  M.  E. : L.  D.,  ii.  126.  N.  E. : Perrot,  81, 

759,  842;  \V„  i.  227,  231.  5 O.  E.:  L.  D.,  ii.  49,  108;  Badeker,  408,  409. 

6 O.  E. : L.  D.,  ii.  61.  Also  the  instrument,  W.,  i.  306,  belongs  to  this  class. 

7 O.  E.:  L.  D.,  ii.  49  ; Badeker,  409  ; W.,  i.  306.  N.  E. : W.,  ii.  178  ; W.,  iii.  PI.  lxxii. 

8 O.  E. : L.  D.,  ii.  49,  108  ; Badeker,  408,  409.  M.  E. : L.  D.,  ii.  126.  N.  E. : Perrot,  842  ; 
W.,  iii.  lxxii. 

II  O.  E. : Badeker,  409.  N.  E. : W.,  ii.  178  ; W.,  iii.  lxxii.  in  which  the  hand  is  reversed. 


454 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


By  a happy  chance  originals  of  nearly  all  these  tools,  which  I have 
enumerated  from  tomb-pictures,  have  been  preserved  to  us.  A basket 
was  found,  probably  in  one  of  the  Theban  temples,  containing  the  tools 
employed  by  King  Thothmes  III.,  “when  he  stretched  the  rope  over 


EXAMPLES  OF  THE  TOOLS  USED  BY  THOTHMES  III.:  2 AXES,  5 CHISELS,  AN  ADZE,  AND  A SAW. 
(From  the  collections  at  Leyden  and  at  Alnwick  Castle.) 


‘ Anion  glorious  in  the  horizon,’  ” i.e.  when  he  accomplished  the  foundation 
ceremonies  for  the  temple  of  this  name.1  We  see  that  they  are  tools 
specially  prepared  for  this  ceremony,  for  they  are  not  suitable  for  hard  work  ; 
they  give  us  however  a variety  of  model  specimens,  from  which  we  can 
form  a very  good  idea  of  the  simpler  tools  used  by  the  Egyptian  workman. 


They  are  now  at  Leyden,  London,  Alnwick  Castle,  and  at  Gizeh. 


XVIII 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 


455 


It  is  impossible  here  to  give  full  details  of  the  excellent  work  the 
Egyptian  carpenters  and  cabinetmakers  turned  out,  in  the  preparation  of 
the  boats  and  carriages,  the  portions 
of  houses  and  furniture,  the  weapons, 
coffins,  and  other  necessaries  for  the 
funerary  equipment  of  the  deceased.1 
We  shall  only  indicate  here  a few 
of  the  peculiarities  of  Egyptian  work- 
manship, peculiarities  principally 
due  to  the  poor  character  of  their 
materials.  If  we  confine  ourselves  to 
the  consideration  of  native  wood,  we 
find  a complete  lack  of  planks  of  any 
great  length  ; the  curious  art  was 
therefore  devised  of  putting  together 
small  planks  to  form  one  large  one. 

In  boat-making,  where  fine  work- 
manship was  not  required,  the  little 
boards  were  fastened  the  one  over  the  other  like  the  tiles  of  a roof ; this 
process,  which  is  unmistakably  represented  in  a picture  of  the  Middle 
Empire,2  was  still  in  common  practice  in  Egypt  in  the  time  of  Herodotos, 
though,  like  other  old  Egyptian  customs,  it  is  now  confined  to  the  Upper 
Nile.  In  the  case  of  coffins  and  furniture  however,  where  it  was  desirable 
to  conceal  the  joining  of  the  boards,  the  wood  was  cut  so  that  the  edges 
should  exactly  fit  together ; the  adjoining  surfaces  were  then  fastened 
together  with  little  wooden  pegs  ; afterwards  the  joint  was  completely 
hidden  by  painting.  In  the  same  way  the  Egyptian  workmen  understood 
how  to  make  good  the  holes  and  bad  places  in  the  wood.  Wooden  pins 
were  commonly  used  as  the  method  of  fastening,  and  during  the  periods 
with  which  we  are  occupied,  glue  was  employed  but  rarely.3  In  the  older 
period  they  seem  to  have  joined  pieces  of  wood  at  right  angles  to  each 
other  by  the  simple  mitre  joint  ; as  far  as  I know,  the  so-called  dovetailed 
work  came  in  comparatively  speaking  much  later.4 

The  following  was  the  method  by  which  they  gave  the  planks  of  a boat 
the  right  curve  : when  the  boat  was  ready  in  the  rough,  the  boat-builder 
of  the  Old  Empire  drove  a post  with  a fork  at  the  top  into  the  middle  of 
the  bottom.  Strong  ropes  were  then  fastened  to  the  stern  and  the  bow 
of  the  boat,  and  drawn  over  the  fork  ; the  workmen  next  stuck  poles 

1 Boat-making — O.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  61,  108  ; Badeker,  408,  409.  M.  E.:  L.  D.,  ii.  126  (Ros. 
M.  C.,  44).  Carriage-making — N.  E.  : \V.,  i.  227,  231,  232.  Making  of  doors  and  bolts — 
O.  E. : L.  D.,  ii.  49;  Badeker,  408.  N.  E.:  L.  D.,  iii.  26.  Furniture-making — O.  E.:  L.  D.,  ii. 
49;  Badeker,  409.  M.  E. : L.  D. , ii.  126.  N.  E. : Perrot,  81,  759,  842;  W.,  ii.  17S.  Weapon- 
making— O.  E.:  L.  D.,  ii.  108.  Coffin-making — N.  E.:  W.,  iii.  lxxii. 

- L.  D.,  ii.  126.  Ros.  M.  C.,  44. 

3 W.,  ii.  198,  gives  a wooden  box  joined  together  by  glue.  The  picture,  W.,  ii.  199,  may  possibly 
represent  gluing. 

4 The  Berlin  coffins  of  the  time  of  the  Middle  Empire  exhibit  excellent  ancient  specimens  of  these 
various  styles  of  workmanship. 


A DRILL  WITH  ITS  BOW  AND  ITS  DIFFERENT 

parts  (2,  the  drill  ; 3,  the  mother).  (After  W. , 
i.  400. ) 


456 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


through  these  ropes  and  then  twisted  them  round  till  the  boards  of  the 
boat  had  been  curved  into  the  necessary  shape.1  The  men  had  of  course 


BENDING  A BOAT  INTO  A CURVE  ; OTHER  WORKMEN  ARE  TRIMMING  IT  AND  BORING  (?)  IT. 

(Tomb  at  Sawijet  el  Meitin.  After  L.  D. , ii.  108. ) 

to  exert  all  their  strength,  so  that  the  rope  should  not  untwist,  and  all 
their  work  be  in  vain. 

I have  already  mentioned  that  wooden  furniture,  etc.,  was  generally 
painted  ; there  were  other  styles  of  decoration  also  in  use,  appropriate  to 
the  character  of  the  material  in  question.  Thin  pieces  of  wood,  such  as 
were  joined  together  for  light  seats  or  were  used  for  weapons,  were  left 
with  their  bark  on;  they  were  also  sometimes  surrounded  with  thin  strips  of 
barks  of  other  colours — a system  of  ornamentation  which  has  still  a very 
pleasing  effect  from  the  shining  dark  colours  of  the  various  barks.2  A 
second  method  was  more  artistic  ; a pattern  was  cut  deeply  into  the  wood 
and  then  inlaid  with  wood  of  another  colour,  with  ivory,  or  with  some 
coloured  substance.  The  Egyptians  were  especially  fond  of  inlaying 
“ ebony  with  ivory.”  This  inlaid  work  is  mentioned  as  early  as  the  Middle 
Empire,  and  examples  belonging  to  that  period  also  exist.3  In  smaller 
objects  of  brown  wood,  on  the  other  hand,  they  filled  up  the  carving  with 
a dark  green  paste.4 

I cannot  quit  this  subject  without  mentioning  a curious  technique,  by 
which  they  tried  to  create  a substitute  for  rare  wood.  This  substitute 
consists  of  the  so-called  Egyptian  cartonage,  which  was  chiefly  employed 
for  coffins  carved  in  human  form.  During  the  periods  of  which  we  are 
treating  it  consisted  of  pieces  of  linen  firmly  stuck  together  with  a sort  of 
paste,  and  then  covered  with  stucco  ; the  pieces  of  cartonage,  which  often 
possess  a considerable  strength,  were  probably  pressed  when  wet  into  the 
desired  shape.  I cannot  say  whether  the  real  papier-mache,  so  common 
in  the  Greek  period,  was  also  manufactured  in  the  earlier  ages  ; this  was 
prepared  from  old  papyri  in  the  same  way  as  ours  is  from  old  paper. 

We  will  now  turn  to  the  art  of  the  potter : in  contradistinction  to 
that  of  the  carpenter,  this  art  was  particularly  favoured  in  Egypt  by  the 
wealth  of  the  raw  material  at  command.  In  all  parts  of  Egypt  good  clay 
was  to  be  found  for  ceramic  ware,  and  it  is  not  due  to  chance  that  this 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  108. 

- Weapons  and  sceptres  in  this  style — Gizeh,  4611,  4725  ; Berlin,  4724.  Seats  made  of  bits  of 
wood  with  their  bark  on,  but  without  pieces  twisted  round  : Gizeh. 

3 M.  E.  : Stele  C.  14,  in  the  Louvre.  N.  E.  : L.  D.,  iii.  64  a. 

4 Numberless  examples  exist,  especially  in  the  Louvre. 


XVIII 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 


457 


industry  has  even  now  the  strength  to  resist  the  suffocating  influence 
of  the  mechanical  art  of  Europe.  The  obstinacy  with  which  a nation 
clings  to  the  forms  of  its  pots  and  bowls  is  most  remarkable  ; nothing 
in  Egypt  is  so  difficult  to  date  as  pottery,  for  potsherds  which  are 
centuries  apart  in  point  of  date,  have  almost  identical  characteristics. 
The  modern  grey  ware  of  Keneh  or  the  red  ware  of  Siut  might  almost  be 
mistaken  for  pottery  of  the  New  Empire. 

Various  pictures  of  the  time  of  the  Old  and  the  Middle  Empire  show 
us  the  potter  at  work.  It  was  only  the  simplest  vessels  that  were  formed 


potters  OF  the  middle  empire  (Beni  Hasan.  After  W. , ii.  192).  Above  are  four  men  at  the 
potter's  wheel : the  first  one  turns  it,  the  second  cuts  off  the  pot  that  is  finished,  the  third  one  takes 
it  down,  the  fourth  begins  a new  one.  Below,  the  shaping  of  a plate  with  the  hand,  two  furnaces, 
and  the  carrying  away  of  the  pottery  that  is  finished. 

entirely  by  the  hand.1  As  a rule  the  potter’s  wheel  was  used,  which  was 
turned  by  the  left  hand,  whilst  the  right  hand  shaped  the  vessel.2  The 
pots  were  then  burnt  in  a stove  which  seems  to  have  resembled  that 
used  by  the  Egyptian  bakers.  As  is  shown  in  our  illustration,  the  fire 
was  below,  and  the  pots  were  placed  either  on  the  top  or  inside  ; in 
another  picture  we  see  the  pots  standing  on  the  top  apparently  covered 
with  ashes.3 

The  earthenware  thus  prepared  by  the  potter  was  almost  always  of  the 
simplest  description  ; the  pots,  bottles,  and  bowls  were  without  any  glaze 
or  ornamentation  of  any  kind,  except  a few  lines  of  paint  ; they  made 
dolls  also,  and  similar  rude  figures.  The  beautiful  pottery  and  the  artistic 
terra-cotta  figures  of  Greece  were  quite  unknown  to  the  more  ancient 
Egyptians.4  The  reason  is  apparent, — for  small  and  beautiful  objects 
the  Egyptians  understood  the  manufacture  of  a ware  far  better  adapted 

1 This  seems  to  be  indicated  by  the  picture  L.  D.,  ii.  74  a,  also  by  the  figure  to  the  left  of  the 
stove  in  our  illustration. 

2 Potters’  wheels — O.  E.  : L.  D. , ii.  13.  M.  E. : L.  D.,  ii.  126,  W.,  ii.  192. 

3 Potters’ stoves — O.  E.  : TombofT'y.  M.  E.  : W. , ii.  192;  L.  D.,  ii.  126. 

4 Of  the  time  of  the  Old  Empire  I can  only  mention  some  rude  statues  at  Gizeh,  and  the  figure 
of  a weeping  female  servant.  Of  the  time  of  the  New  Empire  the  fragment  of  a statue  of  Isis  at 
Berlin,  and  a fragment  of  a relief  in  the  Louvre,  placed  amongst  the  Greek  terra-cottas. 


458 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


than  the  rough  clay,  viz.  the  so-called  faience.  The  achievements  of  the 
Egyptians  in  this  branch  of  art  stand  so  high  that  modern  technical  skill 
has  barely  attained  to  it  even  in  part.  It  is  therefore  the  more  to  be 
deplored  that  in  this  branch  of  art  the  pictures  on  the  monuments  leave 
us  in  the  dark,  and  that  we  do  not  possess  even  one  representation  showing 
the  preparation  of  faience.  Even  the  Egyptian  name  for  this  ware  is  as 
yet  unknown,1  a circumstance  which  shows  us  clearly  the  incompleteness 
of  our  knowledge,  and  the  defective  nature  of  the  inscriptions  that  have 
come  down  to  us. 

The  oldest  objects  in  faience  that  we  possess  belong  to  the  close  of 
the  Old  Empire  ; they  are  beads  from  the  nets  and  collarettes,  which  were 
worn  as  ornaments,  both  by  the  living  and  the  dead.2  Of  the  time  of  the 
Middle  Empire,  in  addition  to  similar  ornaments,3  we  have  a small  vase4 
bearing  the  name  of  King  Usertsen  I.;  of  the  time  of  the  New  Empire 
there  are  also  various  kinds  of  beads,  small  amulets,  and  many  other 
objects  of  this  same  material,  such  as  bowls,  tiles,  funerary  statuettes, 
dolls,  caricatures,  etc.,  and  even  small  statues.  The  certainty  with  which 
faience  is  treated  at  this  time  is  astonishing  ; the  funerary  statuette  of  the 
high  priest  Ptahmose  at  Gizeh,  in  which  we  see  pastes  of  various  fusibility 
sharply  and  clearly  side  by  side,  is  a real  marvel  of  finished  work,  and 
the  same  may  be  said  of  the  ornamental  object  lately  obtained  by  the 
Berlin  Museum,  with  its  pigmy  figures  of  gods  in  pierced  work.  The 
colouring  of  the  faience  changed  with  the  fashion  of  the  time  ; as  a rule, 
however,  the  two  colours  blue  and  green  in  various  grades  predominated 
at  all  periods.  The  reason  why  these  two  colours  were  preferred  above 
all  others  is  apparent, — the  blue  and  green  objets  d'art  were  supposed  to 
look  as  if  they  were  made  of  the  most  costly  materials  known  to  the 
Egyptians,  viz.  lapis-lazuli  and  malachite.  These  favourite  stones  were 
imitated  in  various  ways  in  Egypt,  in  blue  and  green  pastes  and  colouring 
matters. 

The  material  that  we  call  Egyptian  faience  is  only  identical  to  a 
certain  degree  with  modern  faience,  for  whilst  in  the  latter  the  glazing  is 
always  laid  on  an  object  of  refined  clay,  the  Egyptians  understood  also 
the  glazing  of  objects  of  cut  stone. 

The  glazing  of  this  faience,  and  still  more  the  splendidly-coloured 
pastes  which  we  meet  with  at  the  beginning  of  the  New  Empire  in  the 
enamels  of  the  goldsmith’s  work,  show  that  the  preparation  of  glass  must 
have  been  familiar  even  in  early  times  to  the  Egyptians.  It  is  uncertain, 
however,  when  glass  was  first  employed  as  an  independent  material.  A 
small  glass  vase  in  the  British  Museum  bearing  the  name  of  Thothmes 
III.,  is  considered  to  be  the  oldest  example  known  ; objects  in  glass  were 
doubtless  manufactured  before  this  period,  but  as  none  have  been  identified, 


1 I conjecture  indeed  that 


AAA/WS 

^ signifies  faience  ; at  any  rate  the  description  of  the  objects 


mentioned  of  this  material  appears  to  me  to  answer  to  faience  rather  than  to  glass,  as  is  surmised  by 
Brugsch,  Wb.  Suppl.,  p.  v.  2 Berlin,  1381.  3 E.g.  at  Gizeh. 

4 Gizeh,  3893. 


XVIII 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 


459 


they  were  probably  much  rarer  than  the  faience.  Nevertheless  the  two 
pictures  which  in  all  probability  represent  glass-blowing  belong  to  the  time 
of  the  Middle  and  the  New  Empire.1  The  older  of  the  two  represents 
two  men  sitting  by  a fire  blowing  into  tubes,  at  the  lower  end  of  which  is 
seen  a green  ball— the  glass  which  is  being  blown.  In  the  later  picture 
two  workmen  are  blowing  together  through  their  tubes  into  a large  jug, 
whilst  a third  has  the  green  ball  at  the  end  of  his  tube. 

The  pictures  of  the  time  of  the  Old  Empire,  on  the  other  hand,  which 
have  been  supposed  to  represent  glass-blowing,  may  probably  be  otherwise 
explained.2  In  these  representations  five  or  six  men  are  seated  round  a 
curious  object  which  may  be  a small  clay  furnace  ; they  are  blowing 
through  tubes  which  are  provided  with  a point  in  front.  In  the  inscrip- 
tions we  read  that  the  melting  of  a certain  substance  termed  | is  here 

represented.3  The  blowing  is  merely  to  fan  the  glow  of  the  furnace. 
The  pictures  of  working  in  metal  to  which  we  must  now  turn,  show  us 
that  this  explanation  is  probably  accurate. 

The  latter  pictures  represent  workmen  smelting  the  precious  metal, 
they  are  sitting  before  the  fire  blowing  through  tubes  into  the  flame  ; in 
one  case  the  tube  has  the  same  point  as  is  seen  in  the  older  pictures.4 
These  metal  points,5  which  are  evidently  intended  to  concentrate  and 
increase  the  draught  of  air,  are  also  to  be  seen  on  the  tubes  of  the 
bellows  represented  in  a tomb  of  the  New  Empire.6  These  bellows 
consist  of  two  bags,  apparently  of  leather,  in  each  of  which  a tube  is 
fastened.  A workman  stands  with  one  foot  on  each  bag ; if  he  presses 
the  left  one  down,  he  raises  the  right  leg  at  the  same  time,  and  draws  up 
the  right-hand  bellows  with  a string.  Two  pair  of  these  bellows  are 
being  used  for  an  open  coal  fire,  and  the  glow  they  produce  is  so  strong 
that  the  workmen  are  obliged  to  use  long  wire  rods  in  order  to  take  off  the 
little  crucible.  When  a smaller  fire  only  was  needed,  it  might  be  lighted 
in  a deep  clay  bowl  surrounded  by  metal  plates  ' to  protect  it  from 
draught  ; this  fire  could  also  be  fanned  by  blowing  through  a tube. 

The  methods  of  metal-working,  the  melting,  forging,  soldering,  and 
chasing  of  metal,  are  unfortunately  rarely  to  be  found  in  any  representa- 
tion.3 We  are  confronted  here  by  the  same  curious  fact  that  the  tomb- 
pictures,  whilst  showing  a predilection  for  treating  of  much  that  is  unim- 
portant, almost  ignore  an  art  which  was  not  only  much  practised,  but  also 
most  highly  developed.  The  frequent  mention  of  workers  in  metal  gives 
us  a truer  conception  of  the  importance  of  this  industry  than  the  few 

1 M.  E.  and  N.  E.  : W.  ii.  140. 

J L.  D.,  13,  49  b,  74  a (the  stove,  or  whatever  it  may  be,  is  apparently  wanting),  Perrot,  32. 

3 If  we  may  take  this  drop-like  substance  to  represent  glass,  which  hypothesis  has  much  in  its 
favour,  these  pictures  would  then  probably  represent  the  preparation  of  this  substance  in  connection 
with  the  glazing  of  faience.  4 M.  E.:  W.,  ii.  234.  N.  E.:  ib.  235  (with  point). 

3 W.,  ii.  312,  remarks  that  the  points  are  of  metal,  in  order  that  they  should  not  burn. 

8 W.,  ii.  312.  7 W.,  ii.  235. 

8 The  only  one  we  can  mention  here  is  L.  D.,  ii.  126  ; W. , ii.  234. 


460 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


representations  that  exist  in  the  tombs.  The  workers  in  bronze  with 
their  chiefs,  but  above  all  the  goldsmiths,  are  often  mentioned,  and  were 
apparently  held  in  great  esteem.  Under  the  12th  dynasty  a “super- 
intendent of  the  goldsmiths,”  whose  father  held  like  office,  was  “ rewarded 

by  the  king  (even)  in  his  childhood,”  and  in  later 
life  was  “ placed  before  others  in  his  office.” 1 
Another  “ superintendent  of  the  goldsmiths  of 
the  king,”  under  the  New  Empire,  is  also  called 
the  “superintendent  of  the  artists  in  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt  ” ; he  relates  that  he  knows  “ the 
secrets  of  the  houses  of  gold,”  by  which  we 
may  perhaps  understand  the  preparation  of  the 
figures  of  the  gods  that  were  guarded  with  such 
secrecy.1’  In  addition  there  were  the  “gold- 
smiths,”3 the  “ chief  goldsmiths,”4  and  the  “ super- 
intendents of  the  goldsmiths”  ;5  as  a rule  fathers 
and  brothers  carried  on  the  same  craft  ; the 
goldsmiths’  art  therefore,  like  that  of  the  painters 
and  sculptors,  was  transmitted  traditionally  from 
father  to  son. 

Though  the  goldsmiths  were  held  in  very 
high  esteem,  owing  to  the  fact  that  they  had  to 
provide  the  temples  with  figures  of  the  gods, 
and  that  the  reparation  of  the  royal  jewels  and 

museum.  1.  Dagger  — the  Such-like  duties  devolved  upon  them,  yet  the 

handle  consists  of  ivory  and 
wood  and  is  ornamented  with 
gold  nails.  2.  The  same  in  its 
sheath.  3.  The  leather  sheath 

alone.  (From  a public  tomb  Egypt  for  large  vessels  as  well  as  for  tools  and 

weapons,  and  this  department  of  metal-work 
was  brought  to  very  great  perfection."  This  is 
not  the  place  to  enter  into  the  subject  of  the  composition  of  the  various 
bronzes  which  analysts  have  endeavoured  to  determine  ; ' the  Egyptians 
employed  various  kinds,  as  we  learn  from  the  texts  of  the  New  Empire, 
where  there  is  frequent  mention  of  “ black  bronze,”  and  the  “ bronze  in 
the  combination  of  six,”  s i.e.  a six-fold  alloy.  It  is  impossible  to  decide 
at  how  early  a period  bronze  was  employed  by  artists  in  the  making  of 


BRONZE  DAGGER  IN  THE  BERLIN 


bronze  industry  was  really  of  far  more  import- 
ance for  the  country.  Bronze  was  employed  in 


at  Thebes  of  the  time  of  the 
New  Empire. ) 


1 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  596.  2 Mar.  Mast.,  450. 

^ [j  passim,  Amon  possessed  his  own  goldsmiths  under  the  N.  E. ; Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1078. 

4 hre  nb,  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1152  (N.  E.). 

5 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  596;  Mar.  Mast.,  450.  Turin  stele  with  the  name  of  Amenemhe’t  III. 
(L.  A.),  on  which  two  “superintendents  of  the  goldsmiths”  and  four  “goldsmiths”  are  mentioned. 

6 A workman  who  made  knives  is  represented  L.  D.,  ii.  126  ; otherwise  I know  of  no  picture 
representing  working  in  bronze. 

7 This  work  ought  to  be  taken  up  again  in  a more  comprehensive  manner  ; the  few  older 
bronzes  ought  also  to  be  considered  by  themselves,  for  the  great  number  of  existing  bronzes  belong 
to  such  a late  date  that  they  must  not  be  included  in  the  metallurgy’  of  the  pure  Egyptian  periods. 

8 Pap.  Roller,  1,  7 ; An.,  4,  16,  12. 


XVIII 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 


461 


statues,1  the  little  funerary  figure  of  King  Ramses  II.  spoken  of  above 
(p.  137)  appears  to  be  the  most  ancient  example  of  a bronze  statuette. 
It  is  cast  hollow,  and  is  beautifully  chased. 

The  fact  that  iron  as  well  as  bronze  was  used  for  tools  from  the  time 
of  the  Old  Empire,  can  scarcely  any  longer  be  considered  as  doubtful,  for 
pieces  of  iron  tools  have  been  found  at  various  places  imbedded  in  masonry 
of  very  ancient  date.2  It  appears  to  me  however,  that  the  bronze 
tools  were  always  more  commonly  used,  for  in  the  texts  bronze  is 
continually  spoken  of,  while  iron  is  comparatively  rarely  mentioned.3 

The  Egyptians  regarded  silver  as  the  most  valuable  of  all  precious 
metals  ; it  stands  before  gold  in  all  the  old  inscriptions,  and  in  fact,  in  the 
tombs  silver  objects  are  much  rarer  than  gold  ones.  This  curious  circum- 
stance admits  of  a very  simple  explanation  : no  silver  was  to  be  found  in 
Egypt.  The  “ white,”  as  silver  was  called,  was  probably  imported  from 
Cilicia  ; the  Phoenicians  and  Syrians  carried  on  this  trade  in  the  time 
of  the  1 8th  dynasty.4  Either  the  brisker  trade  in  this  metal,  or  the 
discovery  of  new  mines,  led  to  a fall  in  the  value  of  silver  under  the 
New  Empire,  for  later  texts  usually  mention  gold  first  in  the  same  way 
that  we  do.5  In  addition  to  gold  and  silver  another  precious  metal,  the 

I ^ ’ usm>  frequently  mentioned  ; Lepsius  recognised  this  as 

electron,  the  mixture  of  gold  and  silver.  Though  this  amalgam  was  in 
no  way  beautiful,  it  was  much  used  for  personal  adornment  and  for 
ornamental  vases.  The  proportion  of  the  gold  to  the  silver  was  apparently 
that  of  two  to  three.0 

The  great  skill  of  the  Egyptian  goldsmiths  is  proved  in  the  most 
conclusive  manner  by  the  wonderful  jewels  found  on  the  body  of  Queen 
A‘hhotep,  one  of  the  ancestresses  of  the  New  Empire  ; these  jewels  are 
now  amongst  the  treasures  at  Gizeh.'  The  fineness  of  the  gold  work,  and 
the  splendid  colouring  of  the  enamels,  are  as  admirable  as  the  tasteful  forms 
and  the  certainty  of  the  technique.  Amongst  them  there  is  a dagger,  on 
the  dark  bronze  blade  of  which  are  symbolical  representations  of  war,  a lion 
rushing  along,  and  some  locusts,  all  inlaid  in  gold  ; in  the  wooden  handle  are 


1 The  statues  of  the  Posno  collection  at  the  Louvre  do  not  belong  to  the  period  of  the  Old 
Empire,  but  are  archaistic  works  of  the  26th  dynasty. 

2 Cp.  Maspero,  Guide  du  Musee  de  Boulaq,  p.  296  ; and  Birch,  W.,  ii.  251. 

3 As  regards  the  word  for  iron,  cp.  Br.  Wb.  Suppl.,  413  ff. 

4 See  the  representation  in  the  tomb  of  Rech-m’e-Re‘ ; W.,  i.  PI.  ii.  a,  ii.  b. 

5 For  the  first  time  probably  L.  D.,  iii.  30  b,  10,  under  Thothmes  III.  ; always  so  in  texts  of  the 
20th  dynasty,  Abb.  44,  Amh.  2,  6,  9,  etc.  That  other  texts  retain  the  old  original  order,  as  is 
the  case  with  many  other  traditional  matters,  is  of  course  no  argument  on  the  other  side. 

6 In  order  to  determine  the  component  parts  of  usm,  Brugsch,  Wb.  Suppl.,  has  cleverly  compared 
Harr.,  26,  11,  with  ib.  34,  a,  whence  it  appears  that  in  weighing  usm,  1278  uten  of  gold,  1891  uten 
of  silver,  and  67  uten  of  copper  were  employed.  This  passage  corroborates  Lepsius’  view  ; I cannot 
conceive  how  Brugsch  can  infer  from  this  small  quantity  of  copper  (which  moreover  may  represent 
the  nails,  etc.)  that  usm  is  a kind  of  bronze.  In  both  passages  also  the  expression  is  so  vague,  that 
the  conjecture  is  not  impossible  that  a part  of  the  gold  might  have  been  worked  up  without  alloy. 

7 That  the  jewelry  of  the  Middle  Empire  was  equally  beautiful  is  shown  by  the  wonderful  jewelry 
of  the  1 2th  dynasty  found  at  Dahshur  by  M.  de  Morgan  in  April  1894. 


462 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


inserted  three-cornered  pieces  of  precious  metal  ; three  female  heads  in  gold 
form  the  top  of  the  handle,  whilst  a bull’s  head  of  the  same  precious 
metal  conceals  the  place  where  handle  and  blade  unite.  The  sheath  is  of 
gold.  One  beautiful  axe  has  a gilded  bronze  blade,  the  central  space  being 
covered  with  the  deepest  blue  enamel,  on  which  King  A'hmose  is  represented 
stabbing  an  enemy  ; above  him  a griffin,  the  emblem  of  swiftness,  hastens 
past.  The  handle  of  the  axe  is  of  cedar  wood  plated  with  gold,  and  upon  it 
the  names  of  the  king  are  inlaid  in  coloured  precious  stones.  Gold  wire  is 
used  instead  of  the  straps  which  in  ordinary  axes  bind  the  handle  and  blade 
together.  Perhaps  the  most  beautiful  of  all  these  precious  things  however 
is  the  golden  breastplate  in  the  form  of  a little  Egyptian  temple  ; King 
A‘hmose  is  standing  in  it,  Amon  and  Re‘  pour  water  over  him  and  bless 
him.  The  contours  of  the  figures  are  formed  with  fine  strips  of  gold,  and 
the  spaces  between  them  are  filled  in  with  paste  and  coloured  stones.  This 
technique,  now  called  cloisonne,  the  same  which  has  been  carried  to  such 
perfection  by  the  Chinese,  was  often  employed  by  the  Egyptians  with  great 
taste.  The  illustration  heading  this  chapter  gives  a good  idea  of  the 
character  of  the  work,  but  it  is  impossible  to  represent  the  brilliance  of  the 
enamel,  and  the  beauty  of  the  threads  of  gold  that  divide  the.  partitions. 

Every  one  however  was  not  able,  like  the  fortunate  Queen  A'hhotep, 
to  employ  gold  for  each  and  every  thing  ; the  art  of  gilding  therefore 
was  early  developed.  The  Berlin  Museum  possesses  a specimen  of  gilding 
belonging  to  the  early  period  between  the  Old  and  the  New  Empire,1  in 
this  specimen  the  fineness  of  the  reddish  gold  leaf  is  remarkable  ; in  later 
times  gilding  was  much  used,  but  I believe  that  this  industry  is  represented 
in  a tomb  picture  as  early  as  the  time  of  the  Middle  Empire.2 

The  question  so  frequently  asked  as  to  whence  the  raw  material  was 
obtained  for  this  highly-developed  metal  industry,  admits  as  yet  of  an 
answer  only  in  part.  The  problem  as  to  whence  the  Egyptians  obtained 
their  tin,  which  they  used  in  great  quantities  for  the  preparation  of  bronze, 
is  still  unsolved  ; we  are  also  ignorant  of  the  source  of  their  iron.3  We  are 
better  informed,  however,  about  the  origin  of  gold,  which  they  procured 
from  the  so-called  Arabian  desert,  the  desolate  mountainous  country  be- 
tween the  Nile  and  the  Red  Sea.  The  veins  of  quartz  in' these  mountains 
contain  gold,  and  wherever  these  veins  come  to  the  surface,  we  find,  as 
Wilkinson  has  already  related,  that  they  have  been  worked  in  ancient  times 
by  the  mountain  folk,  on  account  of  the  probability  of  their  containing  gold. 

In  two  places  especially,  the  quest  of  these  gold-seekers  was  very 
successful.  The  first,  which  was  probably  the  most  ancient  source  of 
Egyptian  gold,  lay  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Coptos,4  and  therefore  presum- 

1 Mask  of  a mummy  from  the  coffin  of  ’Ep’e-‘arichu. 

2 I refer  to  the  picture  W.,  ii.  234,  which  Wilkinson  explains  as  gold-washing,  an  explanation 
which  does  not  quite  commend  itself  to  me.  I do  not  give  my  explanation  as  certain. 

3 W. , ii.  250,  says  that  Burton  found  an  old  iron  mine  at  Hamami  in  the  Arabian  desert. 

4 The  “gold  from  the  mountains”  is  divided  into  14  gold  from  Coptos”  and  “gold  from 
Nubia”  : Harr.,  i.  12  a,  6 ff.  For  the  chart  of  the  gold  mines  of  this  mountain  (i.e.  of  the  moun- 
tain Bechen)  see  Chabas,  “Deux  papyrus.” 


XVIII 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 


463 


ably  on  the  great  mountain  route  leading  from  the  sea  and  from  the 
granite  quarries  to  that  point  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile  where  Coptos  was 
situate.  In  the  Wadi  Foachir  on  this  route,  old  forsaken  gold  workings 
have,  in  fact,  been  found  ; these  must  once  have  been  of  considerable 
importance,  for  there  are  still  the  remains  of  no  less  than  1320  workmen’s 
huts.  Even  if  we  agree  with  Wilkinson’s  judgment  as  an  expert,  that 
these  are  as  late  as  the  Ptolemaic  period,1  yet  we  may  reasonably  conclude 
that  the  same  place  was  worked  in  earlier  times  as  well. 

The  greatest  amount  of  gold,  however,  came  from  another  place,  from 
the  mountains  lying  much  further  to  the  south,  mountains  belonging 
geographically  to  Nubia.  Linant  and  Bonomi  discovered  one  of  the  mines 
of  this  district.  Seventeen  days’  journey  from  the  southern  boundary  of 
Egypt,  through  a waterless,  burning,  mountainous  desert,  is  a place  now 
called  Eshuranib,  where  the  plan  of  the  workings  is  still  plainly  to  be  seen. 
Deep  shafts  lead  into  the  mountain,  two  cisterns  collect  the  water  of  the 
winter’s  rain,  and  sloping  stone  tables  stand  by  them  to  serve  for  the  gold- 
washing. In  the  valley  are  perhaps  three  hundred  stone  huts,  in  each  of 
which  is  a sort  of  granite  hand-mill,  where  formerly  the  quartz  dust  was 
crushed.  Few  places  on  earth  have  witnessed  such  scenes  of  misery  as 
this  spot,  now  so  lonely  and  deserted  that  no  distant  echo  reaches  our  ears 
of  the  curses  with  which  the  air  resounded  in  those  bygone  days.  The 
people  who  here  dug  out  the  “gold  of  Nubia”  for  the  Egyptian  kings, 
who  endured  for  a shorter  or  longer  period  the  frightful  heat  of  these 
valleys,  were  captives  ; the  Wadi  Eshuranib  was  the  Egyptian  Siberia. 
Chained,  with  no  clothes,  guarded  by  barbarian  soldiers  speaking  a lan- 
guage unknown  to  them,  these  unfortunate  wretches  had  to  work  day  and 
night  without  hope  of  deliverance.  No  one  cared  what  became  of  them  ; 
the  stick  of  the  pitiless  overseer  drove  even  the  sick,  the  women,  and  the 
old  men  to  work,  till,  exhausted  by  labour,  want,  and  heat,  death  at  last 
brought  them  their  longed-for  release.  Thus  it  was  in  Greek  times,  and 
as  there ' is  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  Pharaohs  were  more  humane 
than  the  Ptolemies,  we  may  accept  the  terrible  picture  Diodorus  draws  2 
as  applying  also  to  the  times  with  which  we  are  concerned — so  much  the 
more  as  we  cantiot  conceive  any  way  in  which  these  mines  could  be 
worked  without  this  reckless  expenditure  of  life. 

Diodorus  also  describes  to  us  the  procedure  followed  in  the  working 
of  these  mines,  and  his  account  is  corroborated  by  modern  discoveries. 
The  shafts  follow  the  veins  of  quartz,  for  this  reason  winding  their  way 
deeply  into  the  heart  of  the  mountain.  The  hard  stone  was  first  made 
brittle  by  the  action  of  fire,  then  hoed  out  with  iron  picks.  The  men 
who  did  this  hard  work  toiled  by  the  light  of  little  lamps,  and  were 
accompanied  by  children,  who  carried  away  the  bits  of  stone  as  they  were 
hewn  out.  This  quartz  was  then  crushed  in  stone  mortars  into  pieces  about 
the  size  of  lentils  ; women  and  old  men  then  pounded  it  to  dust  in  mills. 
This  dust  was  next  washed  on  sloping  tables,  until  the  water  had  carried 

1 W.,  ii.  238.  Wilkinson  speaks  on  this  subject  as  an  eye-witness.  2 Diodor.,  iii.  11. 


464 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


THE  WEIGHING  OF  GOLD  KINGS. 

The  weights  are  in  the  shape  of  a cow's  head,  of  a lion,  and 
of  a cone  (after  L.  D. , iii.  39  a). 


off  all  the  lighter  particles  of  stone  ; the  fine  sparkling  particles  of  gold 
were  then  collected,  and  together  with  a certain  amount  of  lead,  salt,  and 
other  matters,  kept  in  closed  clay  smelting-pots  for  five  whole  days.  Thus 

far  Diodorus  relates  ; the 
procedure  of  more  ancient 
times  was  probably  the 
same.  Formerly  however 
the  gold  was  not  always 
smelted  on  the  spot,  but  was 
brought  in  bags  to  Egypt 
as  at  the  present  day.1  For 
commercial  purposes  gold 
was  as  a rule  formed  into 
rings,  which,  judging  from 
the  representations,  seem  to 
have  been  of  very  variable 
thickness,  with  a uniform 
diameter  of  about  five  inches. 
Naturally  these  rings  were 
not  taken  on  trust,  and  when- 
ever they  were  paid  over,  we 
see  the  master-weigher  and  the  scribes  busy  weighing  them  and  entering  the 
ascertained  weight  in  their  books."  We  hear  of  enormous  sums  changing 
hands  in  this  way.  Under  Thothmes  III.  an  official  receives  a “great 
heap  ” of  electron,  which,  if  we  may  believe  the  inscription,  weighed 
36,392  uten,  i.e.  331  1 kilos  672  grammes,  which  would  amount  to  about 
66  cwt.3  This  quantity  of  gold  would  now  be  worth  about  .£500,000  ; 
therefore  in  electron,  which  as  we  have  seen  consisted  of  an  amalgam  of 
two-fifths  gold  and  three-fifths  silver,  this  mass  would  be  worth  at  least 
.£200,000.  Moreover,  under  the  New  Empire,  various  kinds  of  gold  were 
distinguished  in  commerce,  e.g.  the  “mountain  gold,”  and  the  “good 
gold,”  the  “ gold  of  twice,”  and  the  “ gold  of  thrice,”  the  “ gold  of  the 
weight,”  and  the  “good  gold  of  Katm,”  i.e.  the  ODD  of  Semitic  countries.4 

Texts  are  still  extant  describing  the  working  of  the  Nubian  gold- 
mines. They  picture  to  us  the  difficulties  of  mining  in  the  desert  so  far 
from  the  Nile  valley, — each  journey  became  a dangerous  expedition,  owing 
to  want  of  water  and  to  the  robber  nomads.  But  here  also  the  auri  sacra 
fames  overcame  all  obstacles.  When  King  Usertsen  I.  had  subjected 
Nubia,  Ameny,  our  oft-mentioned  nomarch,  relates  that  he  began  immedi- 
ately to  plunder  the  gold  district.  “ I went  up,”  he  says,  “ in  order  to  fetch 
gold  for  his  Majesty,  King  Usertsen  I.  (may  he  live  always  and  for  ever). 

I went  together  with  the  hereditary  prince,  the  prince,  the  great  legitimate 
son  of  the  king,  Ameny  (life,  health,  and  happiness  !)  and  I went  with  a 


1 Gold  dust : e.g.  L.  D.,  iii.  1 1 7.  2 L.  D.,  iii.  10  a,  39  a,  d.  3 L.  D.,  iii.  39  d. 

4 Cp.  especially  the  distinctions  made  in  the  Pap.  Harris,  an  enumeration  of  which  may  be  found 

in  Piehl’s  Index,  p.  v.  nb.  The  DPD  appears  also  in  various  inscriptions. 


XVIII 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 


465 


company  of  400  men  of  the  choicest  of  my  soldiers,  who  by  good  fortune 
arrived  safely  without  loss  of  any  of  their  number.  I brought  the  gold  I 
was  commissioned  to  bring,  and  was  in  consequence  placed  in  the  royal 
house,  and  the  king’s  son  thanked  me.”  1 The  strong  escort,  which  in 
this  case  was  required  solely  for  the  protection  of  the  gold,  shows  the 
insecurity  of  the  road. 

Later,  under  the  New  Empire,  when  Nubia  was  an  Egyptian  province, 
the  road  seems  to  have  been  safer,  at  any  rate  the  inscriptions  of  the  1 9th 
dynasty  emphasise  only  the  other  difficulty,  the  want  of  water.  Thus 
an  inscription  in  the  desert  temple  of  Redesieh,  dated  the  9th  year,  the 
20th  Epiphi,  relates  2 that  King  Sety  I.  “desired  to  see  the  gold  mines 
from  which  the  gold  was  brought.  When  his  Majesty  had  now  ascended 
. . . he  stood  still  in  the  way,  in  order  to  consider  a plan  in  his  own 
mind.  He  said  : ‘ How  bad  is  this  waterless  way  ! What  becomes  of 
those  who  travel  along  it  ? . . . Wherewith  do  they  cool  their  throats  ? 
Wherewith  do  they  quench  their  thirst  ? . . . I will  care  for  them  and 
give  them  this  necessary  of  life,  that  they  may  be  grateful  to  my  name 
all  the  years  that  shall  come.’  . . . When  his  Majesty  had  spoken  these 
words  in  his  heart,  he  travelled  through  the  mountains,  and  sought  a 
fitting  place.  . . . The  god  moreover  guided  him  in  order  to  fulfil  his 
request.  Then  were  stone-masons  commissioned  to  dig  a well  on  the 
mountain,  so  that  the  weary  might  be  comforted,  and  those  scorched  by 
the  summer  heat  refreshed.  Behold,  this  place  was  then  erected  to  the 
great  name  of  King  Sety,  and  the  water  overflowed  in  such  abundance  as 
if  it  came  from  the  hollow  of  the  two  cave-springs  of  Elephantine.” 

When  thus  the  well  was  finished,  his  Majesty  resolved  to  establish  a 
station  there  also,  “ a town  with  a temple.”  The  “ controller  of  the  royal 
works,”  with  his  stone  masons,  carried  out  this  commission  of  the 
monarch,  the  temple  was  erected  and  consecrated  to  the  gods  ; Re’  was 
to  be  worshipped  in  the  holy  of  holies,  Ptah  and  Osiris  in  the  great  hall, 
whilst  Horus,  Isis,  and  the  king  himself,  formed  the  “ divine  cycle  ” of 
the  temple.  “ And  when  this  monument  was  now  finished,  when  it  had 
been  decorated  and  the  paintings  were  completed,  his  Majesty  himself 
came  thither  to  worship  his  fathers  the  gods.” 

We  do  not  know  for  certain  where  the  mine  lay,  to  which  the  route 
of  Redesieh  was  to  lead  ; the  inscription  does  not  allude  to  the  mines  of 
Eshuranib,  for,  apart  from  other  reasons,  the  king  was  endeavouring  at  the 
same  time  to  open  a way  to  this  latter  district  also.  We  learn  this  from  an 
inscription  of  Ramses  II.  his  son.  This  king,  “at  whose  name  the  gold 
comes  forth  from  the  mountain,”  was  at  one  time  at  Memphis,  and  while 
thinking  of  the  countries  “ from  which  gold  was  brought,  he  meditated 
plans  as  to  how  wells  might  be  bored  on  the  roads  which  were  in  need 
of  water.  For  he  had  heard  there  was  indeed  much  gold  in  the  country 
of  ’Ekayta,  but  the  way  thereto  was  wholly  without  water.  When  any 
of  the  gold-washers  went  thither,  there  were  only  the  half  of  them  who 
1 L.  D.,  ii.  122.  2 L.  D.,  iii.  140  b. 


2 H 


466 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


arrived  there  ; they  died  of  thirst  on  the  way,  together  with  the  donkeys, 
which  they  drove  before  them,  and  they  found  nothing  to  drink,  neither 
in  going  up  nor  in  coming  down,  no  water  to  fill  the  skins.  Therefore 
no  gold  was  brought  from  this  country,  because  of  the  scarcity  of  water. 

“ Then  spake  his  Majesty  to  the  lord  high  treasurer,  who  stood 
near  him  : ‘ Call  then  the  princes  of  the  court,  that  his  Majesty  may  take 
counsel  with  them  about  this  country,’  and  immediately  the  princes  were 
conducted  into  the  presence  of  this  good  god,  they  raised  their  arms 
rejoicing,  and  praised  him  and  kissed  the  earth  before  his  beautiful 
countenance.  Then  it  was  recounted  to  them  how  the  matter  stood  with 
this  country,  and  their  counsel  was  asked  as  to  how  a well  should  be 
bored  on  the  road  leading  thither.” 

After  the  customary  long  loyal  phrases  of  the  Egyptian  court  cere- 
monial, the  princes  answered  : “ ‘ O king,  our  lord  ! The  following  is 
related  of  the  country  of  ’Ekayta — and  indeed  the  royal  son  of  the 
miserable  Ethiopia  (i.e.  the  governor  of  Nubia)  spake  on  the  subject  before 
his  Majesty — it  has  been  without  water  in  this  way  since  the  time  of  Re’. 
Men  die  there  from  thirst,  and  every  king  of  past  times  has  wished  to 
bore  a well  there,  but  they  did  not  succeed.  King  Sety  I.  also  did  the  same, 
he  caused  a well  1 20  cubits  deep  to  be  bored  there  in  his  time  ; but  it  was 
left  alone,  and  there  came  no  water  out  of  it.  If  however  thou  didst  speak 
thyself  to  thy  father  the  Nile,  the  father  of  the  gods,  and  saidst  : ‘ Let  the 
water  come  out  of  the  mountain,’  he  would  then  do  what  thou  sayest,  as 
indeed  all  thy  plans  are  carried  out  before  us.  . . . For  all  thy  fathers  the 
gods  love  thee,  more  than  any  king  who  has  been  since  the  time  of  Re’.’ 

“ Then  spake  his  Majesty  to  these  princes  : ‘ All  that  ye  say  is  very 
true  . . . since  the  time  of  Re’  no  well  has  been  bored  in  this  country  ; 
I will  however  bore  a well  therein.’  ” And  after  the  princes  had  expressed 
their  astonishment  at  this  decision,  “ adoring  their  lord,  kissing  the  earth, 
lying  on  the  belly  before  him,  rejoicing  to  the  heavens,”  the  king  gave  the 
order  that  the  work  should  be  undertaken.  This  time  it  doubtless  suc- 
ceeded, otherwise  the  stele  giving  this  account  would  scarcely  have  been 
erected  ; it  was  found  at  the  modern  Kuban  in  Nubia,  where  the  route 
to  ’Ekayta  may  have  started.1 

The  two  wonderful  papyri,  famous  as  the  oldest  maps  in  the  world, 
relate  to  the  gold  mines  of  the  two  last-named  kings.2  One  papyrus,  which 
is  only  partially  preserved,  represents  the  gold  district  of  the  mountain 
Bechen,  i.e.  the  mines  situate  to  the  east  of  Coptos,  and  belongs  to  the 
time  of  Ramses  II.  I cannot  say  what  place  is  represented  in  the  other, 
which  may  be  seen  in  the  accompanying  illustration.  It  represents,  as  we 
see,  two  valleys  running  parallel  to  each  other  between  the  mountains,  one 
of  these  valleys,  like  many  of  the  larger  wadis  of  the  desert,  seems  to  be 
covered  with  underwood  and  blocks  of  stone  ; a winding  crossway  valley 

1 Stele  of  Kuban. 

2 Published  Lepsius,  Auswahl,  22,  Chabas,  Deux  papyrus.  Also  the  reports  of  the  Munich 
congress  by  Lauth,  1870,  ii. 


XVIII 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 


467 


unites  the  two.  The  pointed  mountains  (the  drawing  of  which  strikes  us 
as  particularly  primitive)  contain  the  mines  ; that  marked  B bears  the 
superscription  “ gold  mine,”  whilst  by  the  one  marked  A may  be  read 
“ these  are  the  mountains  where  the  gold  is  washed  ; they  are  also  of  this 
red  colour  ” (they  were  represented  red  on  the  papyrus).  The  valley  M 
and  the  pass  N are  “ routes  leading  to  the  sea,”  the  name  of  the  place, 
which  is  reached  through  the  large  valley  marked  O,  or  the  adjoining  one 
marked  D,  is  unfortunately  illegible.  The  mountain  C,  on  which  there 


are  great  buildings,  bears  the  name  of  the  “ pure  mountain  ” ; on  it  was  a 
sanctuary  to  Amon  ; the  small  houses  marked  H belonged,  if  I read 
aright,  to  the  gold  miners.  Finally  the  water  tank  K,  with  the  dark 
cultivated  ground  surrounding  it,  represents  “ the  well  of  King  Sety  I.”  : 
the  same  king  who  erected  the  great  stele  J,  probably  in  remembrance  of 
the  boring  of  this  well. 

A certain  poetic  halo  surrounded  gold-digging  in  the  mountains 
—we  read  indeed  in  an  inscription  in  a mine:  “gold  is  the  body  of  the 
gods,  and  Re’  said,  when  he  began  to  speak  : ‘ my  skin  is  of  pure 
electron.’  ” 1 This  was  not  the  case  however  with  the  prosaic  copper  mines, 
though  they  were  of  course  of  more  national  importance  ; in  the  inscrip- 
tions relating  to  them  there  was  no  boasting  about  their  daily  yield. 
This  is  also  the  reason  that  the  inscriptions  in  those  mines,  which  were 
presumably  copper  mines,  scarcely  ever  mention  the  copper;'  but  speak 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  140  c ; the  allusion  refers  to  the  myth  related  on  p.  264  ff. 

2 An  exception  is  found  L.  D.,  ii.  137  c,  where  the  produce  is  spoken  of  as  malachite 

and  ^ • 

111 


468 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


rather  of  what  is  really  a mere  by-product  of  the  same,  the  precious 


stone, 


mfaket,  i.e.  malachite,  as  the  yield  of  the  mine. 


In  Egypt,  malachite  was  in  fact  considered  to  be  one  of  their  most  valuable 
possessions,  yet  it  stands  to  reason  that  it  was  not  for  the  sake  of 
malachite  alone  that  the  great  mines  of  Sinai  were  worked  for  thousands 
of  years.  It  is  more  likely  that  in  official  style  its  high-sounding  name 
often  stood  for  the  more  vulgar  copper. 

These  copper  mines  lay  in  the  mountains  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Sinaitic  peninsula,  chiefly  indeed  in  the  Wadi  Nasb,  the  Wadi  Maghara, 
and  in  the  mountain  Sarbut  elchadim  ; with  the  exception  of  the  first, 
where  copper  ore  is  still  obtained  from  one  shaft,1  they  were  all  worked 
out  in  old  times.  The  shafts  by  which  they  were  worked  are  bored 
horizontally  into  the  mountain,  and  are  in  the  form  of  corridors,  the 
roof  being  supported  by  pillars. 

The  most  important  of  these  mines  were  those  of  the  Wadi  Maghara, 
which  were  begun  by  King  Snefru  and  called  after  him  the  “ mines  of 
Snefru.”  2 On  a hill  in  the  midst  of  distant  Thales  there  still  stand  the 
stone  huts  of  the  workmen  as  well  as  a small  castle,  built  to  protect  the 
Egyptians  stationed  there  from  the  attacks  of  the  Sinai  Beduin.  For 
though  these  mountain  races  may  have  been  just  as  insignificant  as  they 
are  now,  yet  they  might  be  dangerous  to  the  miners  cut  off  from  all 
intercourse  with  their  home.  King  Snefru  and  his  successors,  therefore, 
carried  on  a petty  warfare  with  these  nomads,  which  is  perpetuated  in 
triumphal  reliefs  on  the  rocks  of  Thales,  as  the  “ annihilation  of  the 
mountain  folk.”  On  the  other  hand  these  mountains  were  exempt  from 
the  other  danger  which  generally  threatened  the  ancient  miners  of  the 
desert  ; there  was  a well  not  far  from  these  mines,  and  the  cisterns  on 
the  fortress  were  filled  sufficiently  with  the  rain  which  fell  here  every 
year.  There  was  provision  made  also  for  the  religious  needs  of  the 
workmen  and  soldiers  ; amongst  other  divinities  revered  here  was  a 
“ Hathor,  the  lady  of  the  malachite  country,”  she  was  considered  the 
patron  saint  of  all  the  mines  of  Sinai.  Though  we  cannot  now  find  a 
temple  to  this  goddess  in  the  Wadi  Maghara,  yet  divine  worship  seems  to 
have  been  carried  on  here  with  all  due  ceremony,  for  Ra’enuser,  a king 
of  the  5th  dynasty  (if  I understand  the  representation  rightly),  gave  to 
one  of  the  gods  there  a great  vase  to  be  used  for  his  libations.3 

The  mines  of  the  Wadi  Maghara  were  actively  worked  all  through 
the  period  of  the  Old  Empire,  and  from  the  time  of  Snefru  to  that  of 
Pepy  II.  the  kings  sent  their  officials  thither  with  a “royal  commission.” 
These  delegates  were  some  of  them  treasury  officials,  and  some  ship 
captains  (two  offices  which,  under  the  Old  Empire,  had  duties  in 
common,  for  instance,  both  had  to  fetch  the  same  precious  things  for  the 


1 Riippell  in  Badeker,  p.  548. 

2 L.  D.,  ii.  137  g.  On  the  present  condition  of  Thales  and  its  ruins  see  Brugsch,  Tiirkis 

minen,  p.  71.  3 L.  D.,  ii.  152  a. 


XVIII 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 


469 


treasury)  ; some  were  also  officers  of  the  army  with  their  troops.  After  a 
long  suspension  of  the  work,  the  later  rulers  of  the  1 2th  dynasty,  especially 
Amenemhe’t  III.,  seem  to  have  taken  it  up  again  energetically.  Thus, 
e.g.,  in  the  second  year  of  his  reign  the  latter  sent  one  of  his  treasurers, 
“ Chentchetyhotep,  the  treasurer  of  the  god,  the  great  superintendent  of  the 
cabinet  of  the  house  of  silver,”  with  734  soldiers  to  the  Wadi  Maghara 
to  pursue  mining  operations  there.  Under  the  New  Empire  also,  many 
of  the  Pharaohs  carried  on  the  work  of  these  mines,  the  last  of  these  kings 
who  we  know  did  so  being  Ramses  III.;1  he  relates  that  he  sent  his 
prince-vassals  thither,  to  present  offerings  to  the  Hathor,  and  to  fetch 
many  bags  of  malachite. 

The  mines  also  now  called  Sarbut  elchadim,  the  servant  mountain, 
which  in  early  times  were  called  after  an  unknown  personage,  the  mines 
of  the  Ka,2  seem  also  to  have  been  worked  as  early  as  the  time  of  King 
Snefru,  for  he  is  represented  there  in  a relief  standing  between  two  gods/ 
A certain  Amenemhe't  also  relates  to  us  later  that  he,  the  “ treasurer  of 
the  god,  the  superintendent  of  the  cabinet,  the  leader  of  the  young  men, 
and  the  friend  of  the  Pharaoh,”  rendered  such  great  services  there  as 
“ had  not  been  known  since  the  time  of  King  Snefru.”  4 The  work  was, 
however,  first  taken  up  in  earnest  by  the  kings  of  the  12th  dynasty,  under 
whom  Sarbut  elchadim  seems  to  have  become  the  centre  of  the  whole  mining 
district.  Amenemhe't  III.  built  a small  temple  here  to  the  Hathor;  it 
stood  on  a high  rocky  terrace  which  dominates  the  valley  in  an  imposing 
manner.  This  temple  was  afterwards  enlarged  by  the  kings  of  the  New 
Empire,  especially  by  Thothmes  III.  Round  about  this  sanctuary  were 
erected  numberless  stelae,  on  which  the  names  of  many  of  the  distinguished 
directors  of  the  mines  there  have  been  passed  down  to  posterity.  These 
mines,  like  those  of  the  Wadi  Maghara,  seem  to  have  been  exhausted 
under  the  New  Empire,  for  none  of  the  inscriptions  there  are  later  than 
the  20th  dynasty.’  Finally,  there  were  also  great  “copper  mines”  in  the 
mountain  ‘At’eka,  which  could  be  reached  both  by  sea  and  land  ; Ramses 
III.  carried  on  mining  operations  here  with  great  success.0 

The  quarrying  of  “ eternal  stones  ” is  even  more  frequently  mentioned 
on  the  Egyptian  monuments  than  mining  ; the  indefatigable  energy  of 
the  Egyptians  in  building  caused  the  demand  for  stone  to  be  unusually 
great.  The  cheapest  material,  the  common  limestone,  was  indeed  to  be 
obtained  everywhere  on  the  edge  of  the  desert  with  very  little  trouble  ; 
but  this  limestone  scarcely  admitted  of  fine  treatment.  The  really  good 
kinds  of  stone  which  were  used  for  sculpture  were  not  found  in  very 
many  places,  that  is,  if  we  consider  those  places  only  where  it  could  be 
easily  quarried. 

1 Inscriptions  of  the  Wadi  Maghara — O.E. : L.  D.,  ii.  2,  39,  116.  M.E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  137,  140, 
152  a.  N.E.  : L.  D.,  iii.  28.  Ramses  III.  : Harr.  i.  78,  6. 

2 L.  D.,  ii.  144  q.  3 lb.,  144  p.  4 lb.,  144  q. 

5 For  Sarbut  elchadim.  see  Badeker,  p.  546  ; Lepsius  Reisebriefe,  337.  Inscriptions  there 
M.E.  : L.  D.,  ii.  137,  140,  144.  N.E.  : L.  D.,  iii.  29  a,  71  c d. 

(>  Harr.,  78,  1 ff.  This  must  be  one  of  the  Sinaitic  mines. 


47° 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


The  fine  white  limestone,  such  as  was  used  for  instance  for  the  better 
mastabahs  and  pyramids,  and  for  many  statues,  was  brought  from  the 
great  quarries  of  Terofu,  nearly  opposite  Memphis  ; these  are  now  called 
the  quarries  of  Turah,  and  are  still  worked.  Frequent  mention  is  made 
at  all  times  of  these  quarries  ; they  consist  of  immense  halls  quarried  in 
the  rock  ; and  when  we  consider  what  enormous  masses  of  stone  were  cut 
here,  we  cannot  overestimate  their  importance.  Notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  there  are  fewer  inscriptions  preserved  at  Turah  than,  e.g.,  in  the 
less  important  mines  in  Sinai,  yet  this  circumstance  is  to  be  explained  by 
the  great  extent  of  the  operations  at  the  former  place.  To  fetch  stone 
from  the  Turah  quarries,  which  lay  close  to  the  Nile,  was  such  an  everyday 
matter  that  it  was  not  thought  necessary  to  immortalise  the  work, 
however  arduous  it  might  be.  It  was  only  when  a new  cutting  in  these 
stone  quarries  was  solemnly  opened,  in  order  to  “ cut  beautiful  white 
limestone,”  to  build  “ houses  that  should  last  for  millions  of  years,”  that 
the  fact  was  narrated  in  an  inscription  intended  for  posterity.  This 
happened  under  the  Middle  Empire  in  the  reign  of  an  Amenemhe't,  and 
in  the  time  of  the  New  Empire  under  A'hmose,  and  under  Amenhotep 
III.  ; in  the  latter  case  “ his  Majesty  found  that  the  quarries  which  are  in 
Turah  had  fallen  into  decay  since  earlier  times.”  1 

Under  the  Old  Empire,  alabaster  was  obtained  from  the  same  part 
of  the  desert.  A little  southward  of  Turah  nearly  opposite  Dahshur, 
surrounded  by  steep  limestone  cliffs,  the  Wadi  Gerraui  stretches  into 
the  mountains.  In  this  valley  the  old  alabaster  quarries  were  discovered  in 
modern  days  by  Schweinfurth  ; they  lie  three  or  four  hours’  journey  from  the 
Nile  valley,  with  which  they  were  connected  by  a road  which  can  still  be 
traced  in  places.  About  an  hour’s  journey  below  the  quarries  proper  are 
the  ruins  of  the  stone  huts  of  the  workmen.  A very  strong  wall,  formed 
of  blocks  of  stone  piled  up,  and  covered  on  the  outside  with  squared  stone, 
forms  a dam  across  the  valley  at  this  point,  and  presumably  served  to  inter- 
cept the  stream  formed  by  the  winter  rain,  and  thus  to  store  the  water  for 
both  workmen  and  draught  cattle.  The  greatness  of  this  work — the  dam 
is  about  30  feet  high,  216  feet  broad,  and  nearly  140  feet  thick — shows 
that  at  one  time  great  importance  was  attached  to  the  quarries  of  the 
Wadi  Gerraui.2  This  may  have  been  during  a period  when  the  finer 
alabaster  afterwards  obtained  from  the  town  of  Hat-nub,  the  gold  house, 
was  as  yet  unknown.3  Even  the  latter  quarries  were  undoubtedly 
exhausted  under  King  Pepy  of  the  6th  dynasty.4 


1  L.  D.,  ii.  143  i ; L.  D.,  iii.  3 a,  b,  71  a,  b. 


plural  term 


1. 


Such  a section  of  the  quarries  is  called  by  the 


2 The  great  age  of  this  work  is  proved  by  the  degree  of  weathering  of  the  square  stone  of  the 
dam,  which  is  exactly  like  the  weathering  that  can  be  observed  in  the  blocks  used  for  the  pyramid 
temples. 

3 The  quarries  of  Hat-nub  were  discovered  in  December  1891  by  Mr.  Percy  Newberry  of  the 
Egypt  Exploration  Fund.  See  the  Proceedings  of  the  Bib.  Archae. , January  1894. 

4 Inscription  of  Un’e,  A.  Z.,  1882,  24. 


XVIII 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 


47i 


Sandstone,  which  was  valued  as  the  least  destructible  building 
material,  was  chiefly  obtained,  as  we  might  surmise,  from  that  place  which 
was  most  conveniently  situate  for  Egypt  proper,  the  most  northerly 
point  of  the  sandstone  plateau,  Gebel  Selseleh.  The  mountains  here 
approach  the  river  on  both  sides  so  closely  as  to  render  quarrying  an 
especially  easy  matter,  yet  I doubt  whether  sandstone  was  used  for 
building  in  Lower  Egypt  under  the  Old  Empire  ; even  in  later  times  it 
was  employed  preferably  in  the  towns  of  Upper  Egypt.  Under  the  New 
Empire  the  quarries  of  Silsilis  must  have  been  the  scene  of  very  great 
activity  in  consequence  of  the  immense  quantity  of  material  required 
for  the  building  of  Karnak,  Luxor,  Medinet  Habu,  and  other  temples  ; 
yet  here,  probably  for  the  same  reason  as  at  Turah,  inscriptions 
having  any  reference  to  quarrying  are  strangely  few  in  number. 
Amongst  these  one  of  the  most  instructive  is  that  of  a certain  Set(?)- 
emheb,  who  was  “ superintendent  of  the  house  of  silver  ” of  the  temple  of 
Amon  under  Ramses  II.  He  superintended  the  quarrying  of  stone  here 
for  the  building  of  the  Ramesseum.  For  this  purpose  he  employed  3000 
men,  amongst  whom  were  500  masons.1 

The  quarries  of  Assuan,  from  which  was  obtained  the  beautiful  red 
Egyptian  granite,  were  worked  even  under  the  Old  Empire.  We  learn 
this  from  the  autobiography  of  Un’e,  the  oft-mentioned  favourite  of  King 
Pepy.  Merenre',  who  succeeded  Pepy,  required  this  costly  stone  for  the 
adornment  of  his  pyramid,  and  commissioned  Un’e,  who  was  super- 
intendent of  the  south  at  that  time,  to  obtain  it  for  him.  Un’e  went  first 
to  a part  of  the  quarry  district  called  ’Ebhat,  and  brought  thence  the 
coffin  of  the  King  and  the  point  for  his  pyramid.  He  then  went  to 
Elephantine  and  from  the  island  opposite  Assuan  he  fetched  the  red 
granite  that  was  further  required  for  the  furnishing  of  the  pyramid  ; the 
stele,  with  the  table  of  offerings  belonging  thereto  ; the  door  frames  for 
the  “upper  chamber,”  etc.  In  connection  with  this  latter  journey  the  fact 
that  is  emphasised  as  most  remarkable,  and  as  never  having  occurred 
before  “ under  any  king  whatsoever,”  is  that  Un’e,  who  had  to  employ  for 
his  work  twelve  ships  for  freight,  required  the  escort  of  but  one  single 
warship  ; in  former  times,  therefore,  the  country  near  the  frontier  had 
evidently  been  far  from  safe  for  Egyptian  officials.3  Later,  when  the 
cataract  district  had  been  long  under  Egyptian  government,  the  military 
importance  of  this  frontier  was  very  great,  and  the  numberless  inscriptions 
on  the  rocks  are  due  perhaps  more  to  this  fact  than  to  the  proximity  of 
the  granite  quarries. 

We  possess  still  further  evidence  of  the  great  importance  of  these 
granite  quarries.  In  all  the  Egyptian  ruins  we  find  immense  blocks  of 
this  Assuan  stone,  and  in  the  neighbourhood  of  that  town  we  can  still  see 
the  places  where  they  were  cut.  The  procedure  by  which  the  old  Egyptian 
stone  masons  extricated  the  blocks  can  be  distinctly  recognised.  At 

1 Inscriptions  in  the  quarries  at  Silsilis:  L.  D.,  iii.  no  i. ; L.  D.,  vi.  23,  6-8. 

2 A.  Z.,  1882,  22  ff. 


472 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


distances  generally  of  about  6 inches  they  chiselled  holes  in  the  rock,  in 
the  case  of  the  larger  blocks  at  any  rate,  to  the  depth  of  6 inches. 
Wooden  wedges  were  forcibly  driven  into  these  holes  ; these  wedges  were 
made  to  swell  by  being  moistened,  and  the  rock  was  thus  made  to  split. 
The  same  process  is  still  much  employed  at  the  present  day. 

The  hardness  of  the  red  granite  permitted  its  employment  in  great 
masses,  and  as  the  quarries  were  close  to  navigable  water,  the  Egyptian 
architects  and  sculptors  made  good  use  of  this  happy  circumstance.  Some 
of  the  blocks  in  the  temple  of  King  Cha‘fre‘  not  far  from  the  great  Sphinx 
measure  14  feet  in  length,  and  those  under  the  architraves  in  the  sanctuary 
of  the  crocodile-god  Sobk  in  the  Feyum,  built  by  Amenemhe't  III.,  are 
even  more  than  26  feet  long.  Amongst  the  Theban  obelisks  there  is  one 
more  than  107  feet  high,  whilst  a papyrus  speaks  of  an  obelisk  of  some 
kind  from  the  quarries  of  Assuan,  which  measured  1 20  cubits,  i.c.  nearly  200 
feet.1  These  again  are  surpassed  in  bulk  by  the  colossal  seated  statue  of 
red  granite  which  lies  shattered  in  the  Ramesseum  at  Thebes ; this  colossus 
was  hewn  out  of  a single  block  5 5 feet  high  and  correspondingly  broad. 

As  we  have  said,  the  convenient  proximity  to  the  water  was  the  reason 
that  the  Assuan  granite  was  constantly  employed  for  these  colossal  works  ; 
the  black  granite,  which  might  have  been  used  perhaps  for  even  larger 
architraves  and  for  more  slender  obelisks,  owing  to  its  iron  hardness,  was 
only  employed  in  comparatively  small  pieces,  on  account  of  the  difficulty 
of  transporting  it  from  the  quarries  in  the  heart  of  the  desert.  The 
“valley  Rehanu,”  or  according  to  its  modern  appellation  the  Wadi 
Hammamat,  lay  on  the  desert  route  between  Coptos  and  the  Red  Sea, 
and  thence  was  obtained  the  “ splendid  rock  the  beautiful  Bechen  stone,” 
from  which  were  made  nearly  all  the  dark-coloured  statues  and  coffins 
that  excite  our  admiration  in  the  Egyptian  departments  of  our  museums. 
The  working  of  these  quarries  must  have  been  very  difficult,  for  Ham- 
mamat lies  two  to  three  days’  journey  from  the  Nile,  and  the  supply  of 
provisions  for  the  host  of  labourers  necessary  for  the  transport  of  the 
blocks  can  have  been  no  easy  matter.  Numberless  beasts  of  burden 
were  required  to  fetch  the  necessaries  of  life  ; for  instance,  we  read  that 
50  oxen  and  200  donkeys  carried  the  supplies  for  350  men,2  thus  to  find 
water  and  food  for  these  animals  must  again  have  been  an  arduous 
undertaking  in  the  desert.  In  view  of  these  difficulties,  it  seems  to  have 
been  considered  most  meritorious  to  work  there  ; it  was  indeed  quite 
another  matter  to  fetch  stone  from  Hammamat  than  from  Assuan  or  from 
Turah.  To  this  cause  we  owe  the  number  of  inscriptions  in  existence 
at  Hammamat,  inscriptions  which  give  us  a very  interesting  glimpse  of 
the  working  of  these  quarries,  especially  during  the  older  period. 

The  officials  who,  under  the  Old  and  the  Middle  Empire,  directed  the 
works  at  Hammamat,  were  (as  in  the  mines)  mostly  treasurers  and  ship 
captains ; but  at  the  same  time  there  were  in  addition  royal  architects  and 

1 An.  1,  15,  3.  The  satirical  character  of  the  book  causes  it  to  be  a questionable  authority. 

2 L.  D.,  ii.  1 15  h. 


XVIII 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 


473 


artists,  who  also  came  hither  to  fetch  this  precious  stone  for  the  coffin 
or  the  statue  of  the  Pharaoh.  The  higher  officials — for  there  were  men 
of  the  highest  rank  amongst  them,  “ nearest  friends  of  the  king,  hereditary 
princes  and  chief  prophets,”  and  even  a “ great  royal  son  ” 1 — came  here 
probably  only  as  inspectors,  whilst  the  real  direction  of  the  quarrying 
work  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  persons  of  somewhat  lower  standing. 
Thus,  under  the  ancient  King  Pepy,  the  treasurer  ’Ech’e  was  evidently 
the  actual  director  of  the  quarries,  and  as  such  he  once  appears  inde- 
pendently.2 The  inscriptions  however  only  mention  him  as  a subordinate, 
while  they  give  the  place  of  honour  to  Ptah-mer-‘anch-Meryre‘,  “ the 
superintendent  of  all  the  works  of  the  king,  the  nearest  friend  of  the 
king,  and  the  chief  architect  in  the  two  departments.”  This  great  man 
twice  paid  a visit  of  inspection  to  Hammamat,  once  accompanied  by  his 
son,  and  once,  when  it  was  a question  of  the  decoration  of  a temple,  with 
a “ superintendent  of  the  commissions  of  the  sacrificial  estates  of  the 
two  departments.” 3 Moreover,  the  treasurer  ’Ech’e  himself  also  had 
subordinates,  to  whom  he  could  occasionally  delegate  his  office  ; there 
were  five  “ deputy  artists,”  and  one  or  two  architects,  who  were  as  a rule 
subordinate  to  him,  but  who  are  also  mentioned  in  one  place  as  acting 
independently.4 

The  most  ancient  “ royal  mission  ” mentioned  in  the  Hammamat 
inscriptions  took  place  under  King  ’Ess’e  of  the  5th  dynasty.0  In  the 
confusion  which  ensued  after  the  6th  dynasty,  the  works  seem  to  have 
been  in  abeyance.  Under  the  rule  of  a King  Mentuhotep  of  the  1 ith 
dynasty  a new  epoch  commenced.  A miracle  took  place  : “ A well  was 
discovered  in  the  midst  of  the  mountains,  10  cubits  broad  on  every  side, 
and  full  of  water  up  to  the  brink.”  It  was  situate,  if  I rightly  understand, 
“ out  of  reach  of  the  gazelles,  and  hidden  from  the  barbarians.  The  soldiers 
of  old  times  and  the  early  kings  had  passed  in  and  out  close  by  it,  but 
no  eye  had  seen  it,  no  human  face  had  glanced  upon  it,”  till  through 
the  favour  of  the  god  Min,  the  protector  of  desert  paths,  it  was  granted 
to  King  Mentuhotep  (or  rather  to  his  people)  to  find  it,  and  thus  “ to 
make  this  country  into  a sea.”  6 This  discovery  was  made  in  the  second 
year  of  the  king’s  reign,  when  he  had  sent  his  highest  official  the  governor 
to  Hammamat,  to  direct  the  quarrying  of  “ the  splendid  great  pure  stone 
which  is  in  that  mountain  ” ; that  the  coffin  with  the  name  of  “ eternal 
remembrance”  might  be  prepared  for  the  tomb  of  the  monarch  as  well  as 
monuments  for  the  temples  of  Upper  Egypt.  “ Thither  resorted  Amen- 
emhe't,  the  hereditary  prince,  the  chief  of  the  town,  the  governor  and 
high  judge,  the  favourite  of  the  king,  the  superintendent  of  works — who 
is  great  in  his  office  and  powerful  in  his  dignity — -who  occupies  the  first 
place  in  the  palace  of  his  lord — -who  judges  mankind  and  hears  their 
evidence — he  to  whom  the  great  men  come,  bowing  themselves,  and 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  1 15  h.  2 L.  D.,  ii.  1 15  c.  3 L.  D.,  ii.  1 1 5 g,  k. 

4 lb.,  b,  c,  g.  In  one  place  we  read  of  a father  with  his  four  sons  ; later  they  appear  again 

separately.  5 lb.,  1.  6 L.  D.,  ii.  149  f,  g. 


474 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


before  whom  all  in  the  whole  country  throw  themselves  on  the  earth — 
who  is  great  with  the  king  of  Upper  Egypt  and  powerful  with  him  of 
Lower  Egypt,  with  the  white  crown  and  the  red  crown  . . . — who  judges 
there  without  partiality — the  chief  of  all  the  south  country — who  makes 
a report  upon  all  that  exists  and  that  does  not  exist — commander  of  the 
lord  of  the  two  countries,  and  of  understanding  heart  of  the  commission 
of  the  king  ...  he  resorted  to  this  honourable  country,  accompanied 
by  the  choicest  soldiers,  and  the  people  of  the  whole  country,  the  moun- 
tain folk,  the  artists,  the  stone-hewers,  the  metal-workers,  the  engravers 
of  writing,  . . . the  gold-workers,  the  treasury  officials — in  short,  by  all 
the  officials  of  the  Pharaonic  treasury  and  by  all  the  servants  of  the 
royal  household.”  He  carried  out  his  commission  successfully,  and  more 
especially  he  obtained  a sarcophagus  8 cubits  long,  4 cubits  broad,  and 
2 cubits  high.  Calves  and  gazelles  were  sacrificed  as  thank-offerings  to 
Min  of  Coptos,  the  protector  of  this  desert,  incense  was  offered  up  to 
him,  and  3000  men  then  dragged  the  great  block  into  Egypt.  “ Never 
had  such  a block  been  transported  into  that  country  since  the  time  of  the 
god.  The  soldiers  also  suffered  no  loss,  not  a man  perished,  not  one 
donkey’s  back  was  broken,  not  one  artisan  was  killed.”1 

It  stands  to  reason  that  the  powerful  monarchs  of  the  r 2th  dynasty, 
who  were  such  great  builders,  did  not  neglect  the  Hammamat  quarries. 
Under  the  first  of  these  kings,  for  instance,  ’Entef,  the  lord  high  treasurer, 
succeeded,  after  searching  for  eight  days,  in  finding  a species  of  stone, 
“the  like  of  which  had  not  been  found  since  the  time  of  the  god.”  No 
one,  not  even  the  hunters  of  the  desert,  had  known  of  this  quarry."  Under 
Amenemhe't  III.  also,  no  fewer  than  20  men  of  the  mountains,  30  stone 
masons,  30  rowers  (?),  and  2000  soldiers  were  employed  for  the  transport 
of  the  monuments  from  Hammamat.15  During  the  period  subsequent  to 
this  account  the  inscriptions  almost  cease  or  contain  no  particulars.4  Yet 
we  must  not  therefore  conclude  that  from  this  time  the  quarries  were  little 
worked  ; numberless  proofs  of  the  contrary  are  to  be  found  in  the  buildings 
of  the  1 3th  dynasty,  as  well  as  in  those  of  the  New  Empire.  It  was  again 
the  business-like  everyday  character  that  the  work  assumed,  that  led  to  the 
cessation  of  the  inscriptions.  Hammamat,  at  this  epoch,  when  nothing 
in  the  way  of  building  was  considered  too  difficult,  was  placed  almost  in 
the  same  rank  as  Turah  and  Silsilis.  Though  we  hear  no  more  of  the  want 
of  water  or  of  the  difficulty  of  communication,  yet  a new  danger  seems  now 
to  have  arisen.  From  the  above-mentioned  (p.  380)  satirical  writing — 
certainly  an  untrustworthy  source  of  information — we  hear  of  a military 
expedition  5 being  sent  to  Hammamat  “ in  order  to  destroy  those  rebels  ” ; 
exclusive  of  officers,  the  number  of  troops  employed  is  given  as  5000, 
the  text  therefore  cannot  refer  to  one  of  the  petty  wars  frequently 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  149  d,  e.  2 L.  D.,  ii.  1 1 8 d. 

3 L.  D.,  ii.  138  c.  Other  inscriptions  of  the  time  of  the  M.E.  : L.  D.,  136,  138,  1 5 1 ; L.  D. , 
vi.  23,  9. 

4 Inscriptions  of  the  N.  E.  : L.  D.,  iii.  219,  222  ; L.  D.,  vi.  22,  5 ; Murray,  Egypt,  p.  326. 

5 An.,  1,  17,  2 ff. 


XVIII 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 


475 


carried  on  with  the  wretched  Beduins  of  these  mountains.  If  in  other 
respects  we  may  believe  the  account,  there  must  have  been  a mutiny 
amongst  the  workmen  to  necessitate  the  employment  of  so  great  a 
number  of  soldiers. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  New  Empire  under  the  reign  of  Ramses  IV., 
—a  king  who,  though  he  has  left  but  few  monuments,  seems  to  have 
planned  the  most  magnificent  ones, — we  again  hear  of  an  expedition  to 
Hammamat  which  was  carried  out  in  grand  style.1  In  the  first  place  the 
king  commissioned  three  of  his  most  trusted  attendants,  “ Ramses-'a^a- 
heb,  the  scribe  of  the  house  of  life,”  and  “ Har’e,  the  scribe  of  the  temple,” 
and  Ra‘-user-ma‘t-nachtu,  the  priest  of  the  gods  Min,  Horus,  and  Isis  of 
Coptos,”  to  seek  for  the  best  blocks  on  the  mountain  of  Bechen,  i.e.  in 
Hammamat.  This  commission,  the  last  member  of  which  was  a native  of 
Coptos,  and  evidently  owed  his  appointment  to  his  intimate  knowledge  of 
the  desert,  gave  in  their  reports  as  follows  : “ They  are  wholly  good,  there 
are  wonderful  great  monuments.”  Thereupon  the  king  gave  command 
to  Ramses-nachtu,  the  high-priest  of  Amon,  “ to  fetch  them  to  Egypt.” 
The  conduct  of  this  expedition  was  entrusted  to  this  personage,  because 
he  was  officially  the  “ superintendent  of  the  works  ” of  Amon,  and  the 
monuments  in  question  were  intended  for  that  god.  The  men  under  his 
command  were  chiefly  military  officers,  for  according  to  the  ideas  of  those 
times,  work  of  this  kind  devolved  on  the  army.  No  fewer  than  iio 
officers  of  each  rank  were  ordered  out  on  this  expedition.  With  them  were 
associated  more  than  fifty  civil  officials  and  ecclesiastics,  and  as  distinguished 
members,  two  of  the  king’s  vassals— without  whom  at  this  period  nothing 
seems  to  have  been  done — and  further,  the  governor  of  Thebes,  and  the 
superintendents  of  oxen  and  high  priests  of  various  temples,  etc.  The 
technical  work  was  given  into  the  hands  of  130  stone-masons,  2 painters, 
and  4 engravers,  who  worked  under  three  chiefs  of  the  stone-masons,  and 
“ Nechtamon,  the  superintendent  of  the  artists.”  The  work  of  transport 
was  carried  out  by  5000  common  soldiers,  200  officers  of  the  troop  of 
the  fishers  of  the  court,”  800  men  of  the  barbarian  mercenaries,  and  2000 
bondservants  of  the  temples.  Altogether  the  expedition  consisted  of 
8368  souls.  It  is  interesting  to  hear  how  the  commissariat  for  such  a 
number  of  men  was  managed.  Ten  waggons,  each  drawn  by  6 pair  of 
oxen,  and  laden  with  bread,  meat,  and  cakes,  “ hastened  from  Egypt  to 
the  mountain  Bechen  ” ; the  offerings  for  the  gods  of  the  desert  however, 
for  Min,  Horus,  and  Isis  of  Coptos,  were  procured  from  the  “ city  of  the 
south,”  i.e.  probably  from  Luxor. 

IAom  the  above  accounts  the  reader  will  understand  how  the  Egyptians 
were  able  to  move  even  the  weightiest  of  their  monuments.  The  weights 
concerned  were  immense.  The  statue  of  Ramses  II.  in  the  Ramesseum 
weighed,  according  to  one  reckoning,  more  than  a million  kilogrammes 
(i.e.  more  than  20,000  hundredweight,2  and  in  consequence  it  has  been 

1 All  that  follows  is  after  L.  D.,  iii.  219. 

- Murray  gives  the  weight  as  more  than  1000  tons. 


476 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


conjectured  that  the  architects  of  the  Pharaohs  possessed  highly-developed 
mechanical  appliances  to  facilitate  the  transport  of  such  enormous  masses. 
Nothing  of  the  kind  has  been  found  to  corroborate  this  view,  and  no 
Egyptologist  now  doubts  that  all  these  marvels  were  worked  by  one  power 
alone,  viz.  by  the  reckless  expenditure  of  human  labour.  Great  things 
can  be  accomplished  with  the  most  primitive  means  by  those  who  have 
no  compunction  in  working  hundreds  and  thousands  of  workmen  to 
exhaustion,  unconcerned  as  to  how  many  fall  by  fatigue.  To  us  modern 
Europeans,  who  are  accustomed,  at  any  rate  in  time  of  peace,  to  consider 
each  human  life  as  priceless,  such  conduct  appears  most  criminal  ; to  the 
eastern  mind  however,  there  seems  nothing  particularly  wicked  in  it. 
Even  in  recent  times  the  Egyptian  fellahin  were  employed  by  the  system 
of  forced  labour  on  the  canal-works,  and  their  strength  was  used  as  merci- 
lessly as  if  they  had  been  cattle.  For  instance,  when  the  Suez  canal  was 
begun,  Said  Pasha  had  25,000  peasants  at  his  disposal  for  the  undertaking, 
and  in  five  years  they  dug  the  Sweet-water  canal.  The  Mahmudijeh 
canal  was  taken  in  hand  in  the  same  cheap  way:  250,000  peasants 
worked  at  it  during  a whole  year,  and  it  is  computed  that  not  fewer  than 
2o,ooo  were  sacrificed  to  the  undertaking. 

If  we  accept  the  fact  that  the  ancient  Egyptians  were  not  less 
scrupulous  in  this  respect  than  their  modern  compatriots,  we  shall  com- 
prehend how  they  could  transport  the  greatest  weights  without  employing 
any  but  the  most  simple  means.  The  Pharaohs  of  the  Old  Empire  had 


TRANSPORT  OF  A BLOCK  DESTINED  FOR  THE  BUILDING  OF  A TEMPLE  AT  MEMPHIS,  IN  THE  22ND 

YEAR  OF  A'HMOSE  (l8TH  DYN.  ). 

According  to  the  inscription  the  bearded  workmen  are  Phoenicians  (L.  D.,  iii.  3). 

no  scruple  in  making  use  of  their  own  subjects  for  work  : the  later  rulers, 
who  always  had  captives  taken  in  war  at  their  disposal,  naturally 
employed  the  latter  for  the  same  purpose.  For  instance,  under  Ramses  II. 
we  find  foreigners  of  the  race  of  ’Apury  dragging  stones  for  the  royal 
buildings  at  Memphis  ; 1 and  Ramses  IV.  employed,  as  the  above- 
mentioned  inscription  relates,  800  men  of  the  same  race  for  the  transport 
of  his  blocks  from  Hammamat.  When  blocks  of  moderate  size  had  to 
be  conveyed  along  comparatively  good  roads,  oxen  were  harnessed  into 
the  sledge,  as  is  seen  in  the  accompanying  illustration  taken  from  the 
stone  quarries  of  Turah  ; as  a rule  however,  as  far  as  we  can  judge 
from  the  statements  of  the  Egyptian  texts,  men  were  employed  for  this 
heavy  work.  A famous  picture  of  the  time  of  the  Middle  Empire  shows 
us  plainly  the  manner  of  procedure.' 

1 Leyden,  349,  1 5 : similarly,  ib.  348,  6,  6. 

- I,.  D.,  ii.  134.  The  beginning  of  the  inscription  ought  to  read  shins  tut. 


XVIII 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 


477 


An  alabaster  statue  i 3 cubits  high  (i.e.  about  20  feet),  representing 
Dhuthotep,  a prince  of  the  Nome  of  the  Hare,  had  to  be  conveyed  to  his 
tomb  or  to  the  temple  of  his  town.  As  we  see,  it  is  fastened  by  a very 
strong  rope  to  an  immense  sledge  ; sticks  are  thrust  through  this  rope  to 
prevent  it  from  slipping  off,  and  pieces  of  leather  are  placed  underneath 
to  protect  the  statue  from  being  chafed  by  the  rope.  No  fewer  than  172 


men  are  harnessed  by  four  long  ropes  to  this  enormous  load  ; they  are 
so  arranged  that  two  should  always  grasp  the  rope  at  the  same  point  ; the 
further  end  of  each  rope  is  borne  by  a man  on  his  shoulder.  The  overseer 
stands  on  the  knee  of  the  colossus,  and  gives  commands  to  his  workmen 
by  clapping  his  hands  and  calling  out  to  them  ; another  stands  on  the 
base  sprinkling  water  on  the  road,  a third  offers  incense  before  the  image 
of  his  lord.  Accompanying  the  statue  are  men  carrying  the  necessary 
water  and  a great  plank,  together  with  overseers  with  their  sticks.  At 
the  end  of  the  procession  come  the  relatives  of  the  lord,  who  escort  him 
on  his  way.  On  the  other  hand,  groups  of  people  come  to  meet  the 
procession,  carrying  green  branches  ; each  ten  men  have  a leader  and  are 
dressed  alike — these  are  the  subjects  of  the  prince,  who  come  to  greet 


478 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP.  XVIII 


the  image  of  their  chief.  The  arrival  of  such  a great  statue  was  in 
no  way  an  everyday  matter  ; for  this  town  at  any  rate  it  was  quite 
unprecedented,  and  not  one  of  the  past  governors  who  had  ruled  over 
them  either  under  the  later  princes , or  under  the  ancient  judges  and 
district-chiefs , had  ever  “ conceived  such  a thing  in  his  heart.”  Dhuthotep 
describes  in  a spirited  way  the  difficulties  of  the  undertaking  : “ As  the 
way  by  which  the  statue  was  brought  was  exceedingly  difficult,  and  as  it 
was  a most  arduous  work  for  the  men  to  draw  the  precious  block  along 
the  way  because  of  the  difficult  rocky  ground  of  sandstone,1  I therefore 
ordered  numbers  of  boys  and  young  men,  as  well  as  the  companies  of 
masons  and  stone-cutters,  to  come  and  prepare  a way  for  it.  . . . The 
people  who  possessed  strength  called  out  : ‘We  come  in  order  to  bring  it 
along  ’ ; my  heart  rejoiced  ; all  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  shouted  for  joy. 
It  was  an  extraordinarily  great  sight.”  Thus  all  vied  with  each  other  to 
help  their  beloved  chief,  even  the  old  men  and  the  children,  every  one  in 
his  zeal  redoubled  his  efforts,  “ they  were  strong,  one  man  put  forth 
the  strength  of  a thousand.”  The  citizens  of  the  town  came  to  meet  the 
procession  and  to  praise  Dhuthotep  ; his  children  followed  him  in  festive 
garments  ; the  people  of  the  nome  adored  him.  Thus  amidst  universal 
rejoicings  they  reached  at  last  the  boundaries  of  the  town. 


1 I am  doubtful  about  the  translation  “because  of  the  difficult  rocky  ground  of  sandstone,” 
because  it  is  curious  that  there  should  be  any  mention  of  sandstone.  It  is  indeed  possible  that  the 
word  in  question,  “stone  of  growth,”  originally  did  not  specially  signify  sandstone.  It  is  also 
strange  that  a statue  of  such  dimensions  should  consist  of  alabaster. 


HAWK  WITH  A RAM’S  HEAD. 

Gold  inlaid  with  enamel.  (Louvre.  After  Perrot  Chipiez. ) 


EGYPTIAN  ORNAMENTATION  FOR  A CEILING. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 

IN  all  countries  consisting  of  the  narrow  valley  of  a great  river,  that  river 
becomes  the  natural  highway  for  all  communication,  especially  when,  as  in 
Egypt,  the  country  is  difficult  to  traverse  throughout  a great  part  of  the 
year.  The  Nile  and  its  canals  were  the  ordinary  roads  of  the  Egyptians  ; 
baggage  of  all  kinds  was  carried  by  boat,  all  journeys  were  undertaken 
by  water,  and  even  the  images  of  the  gods  went  in  procession  on  board 
the  Nile  boats — how  indeed  should  a god  travel  except  by  boat?  This 
was  such  an  understood  matter  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  a word  in  the 
language  that  signifies  to  travel ; the  terms  used  were  chont  = to  go  up 
stream,  and  chod  — to  go  down  stream.  The  first  word  was  used  in 
speaking  of  any  journey  southwards,  the  latter  of  any  journey  northwards 
— even  when  it  might  signify  travelling  through  the  desert.1  Under 
these  circumstances  it  was  natural  that  the  building  of  river  boats  should 
be  early  developed  as  a national  art. 

The  oldest  form  of  boat  used  by  the  Egyptians  was  doubtless  that  of 
the  little  barks  made  of  papyrus  reed,  such  as  were  much  admired  by 
the  Greeks  of  later  times,  and  the  like  of  which  are  used  even  at  the 
present  day  in  the  Sudan.  These  boats  had  no  deck,  they  were  in  fact 
little  rafts  formed  of  bundles  of  reeds  bound  together.  They  were  rather 
broader  in  the  middle  than  at  the  ends,  the  hinder  part  was  generally 
raised  up  high  whilst  the  front  part  lay  flat  on  the  water.  The  smaller 
of  these  boats,  in  which  there  was  scarcely  room  for  two  people,  con- 
sisted of  one  length  only  of  papyrus  reed  ; the  larger  (some  were  even 
big  enough  to  carry  an  ox)  were  formed  of  several  lengths  cleverly  put 
together.  In  the  building  of  these  boats,2  every  endeavour  was  made  of 

1 Harr.,  500,  5,  2. 

2 Papyrus  boats  in  most  of  the  pictures  of  the  O.  E.  : e.g.  L.  D.,  ii.  60,  77.  M.  E.  : L.  D.,  ii. 
127,  130  ; Ros.  M.  C.,  24,  1.  N.  E.  : W. , ii.  104,  107,  10S.  Building  of  the  same  : Diim.  Res.,  8 


480 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


course  to  join  the  reeds  firmly  together  ; a threefold  rope  was  fastened 
round  them  at  distances  of  about  nine  inches.  When  a boat  of  this  kind 
was  intended  for  the  master’s  use,  a thick  mat  was  spread  over  the  floor 
as  a protection  from  the  damp. 

These  papyrus  boats  drew  very  little  water,  and  were  therefore 
exclusively  used  by  shepherds,  huntsmen,  and  fishermen  in  the  shallow 
waters  of  the  marshes.  They  were  easy  to  guide  on  account  of  their 
lightness  and  their  small  size  ; and  even  where  the  water  was  too  shallow, 
they  could  be  carried  without  any  difficulty  to  deeper  water.  These  little 
skiffs  never  had  sails,  nor  were  they  ever  rowed  properly  ; they  were  either 
propelled  along  with  poles  provided  with  two  points  to  catch  the  bottom, 
or  by  short  oars  with  broad  blades,  with  which  the  rower  lightly  struck 
the  surface  of  the  water  ; the  latter  could  be  used  equally  well  standing 
or  squatting.  This  primitive  style  of  rowing,  which  is  still  in  use  amongst 
some  of  our  river  fishermen,  sufficed  very  well  for  the  little  papyrus 
barks,  especially  as  they  only  carried  light  weights  ; a touch  was  enough 
to  send  them  gliding  over  the  smooth  water.  Papyrus  boats  were 
occasionally  built  of  larger  dimensions,1  thus,  eg.,  in  the  time  of  the  6th 
dynasty  we  find  one  which  required  at  least  thirty-two  rowers  and  a 
steersman.  This  was  a foolish  innovation  and  did  not  last  long ; as 
a rule,  the  larger  boats,  even  in  early  ages,  were  all  built  of  wood,  though, 
as  we  have  seen  in  the  preceding  chapter,  Egypt  was  very  badly  off  for 
that  material.  Under  the  pressure  of  necessity  however  the  Egyptians 
used  their  bad  material  to  great  advantage;  and  it  seems  that,  even  in  very 
early  times,  boat-building  was  carried  on  most  extensively.  Even  under 
the  Old  Empire  boats  were  built  of  large  dimensions  and  of  considerable 
port, — thus  we  hear  of  a “ broad  ship  of  acacia  wood,  60  cubits  long  and 
30  cubits  broad,”  i.e.  nearly  100  feet  long  and  50  feet  across,  and  a boat 
of  this  immense  size  was  put  together  in  1 7 days  only.2  The  number  of 
various  forms  of  boats  in  the  pictures  of  the  Old  Empire  shows  how 
highly  developed  was  this  branch  of  handicraft.3 

The  characteristic  form  of  the  modern  Nile  boat,  in  which  the  hinder- 
part  rises  high  out  of  the  water,  is  also  to  be  seen  in  the  boats  of  the  Old 
Empire  ; it  was  doubtless  due  to  practical  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  in 
the  small  boats  and  papyrus  skiffs,  which  were  not  rowed  but  rather  pushed 
along,  this  hinderpart  gave  the  man  who  propelled  them  a good  hold  ; a 
more  important  matter  on  the  other  hand  was  that  it  enabled  the  boat  to  be 
easily  pushed  off  from  the  many  sandbanks,  on  which  even  the  boats 
of  the  present  day  are  continually  stranded.  The  channel  of  this  sacred 
stream  was  constantly  changing  ; even  large  boats  were  therefore  built  with 

(in  detail : the  workmen  have  their  provisions  with  them,  and  therefore  are  out  in  the  fields)  ; 
L.  D.,  ii.  106  a,  ib.  12;  W.,  ii.  208. 

1 Papyrus  boats  of  unusual  size  : L.  D.,  ii.  106  a ; and  Dtim.  Res.,  3 d.  Observe  also  that  in 
both  examples  the  rowers  sit  with  the  face  forwards,  which  is  rarely  the  case  in  wooden  boats,  but 
always  so  in  the  little  papyrus  skiffs.  2 A.  Z.,  1882,  24. 

3 I do  not  give  an  exhaustive  description  of  all  the  various  forms  ; much  information  on  this 
subject  may  be  found  in  Glaser’s  treatise  (Diim.  Res.),  a very  good  practical  work. 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


481 


very  little  draught,  so  that  as  a rule  they  only  skimmed  the  water, 
scarcely  a third  of  their  length  touching  the  surface  ; we  must  except  the 
transport  boats,  which  drew  more  water  and  were  therefore  built  unusually 
flat.  A boat  about  50  feet  long  would  have  sides  scarcely  3 feet  high,1 
and  had  not  another  plank  been  laid  along  the  edge,  the  water  would 
certainly  have  beaten  into  the  boat. 

Under  the  Old  Empire  the  oars  '2  belonging  to  the  wooden  boats  had 
sometimes  a very  narrow  pointed  blade  ; they  were  used  quite  in  the 
modern  fashion,  and  not  like  those  of  the  papyrus  skiffs.  The  oars  were 
put  into  rowlocks  or  through  the  edge  of  the  boat  ; the  rowers  sat  facing 
the  stern  and  pulled  through  the  resisting  water.  To  prevent  the  oars 
from  being  lost,  each  was  fastened  to  the  boat  by  a short  rope,  and  when 
the  oar  was  not  being  used,  it  was  drawn  out  of  the  water  and  made  fast 
to  the  edge  of  the  boat. 

The  rudder3  was  unknown  under  the  Old  Empire,  and  long  oars  were 
used  to  guide  the  boat  ; one  steering-oar  was  enough  for  a small  boat  ; 
for  a large  one  however,  several  oars  were  required  on  each  side  of  the 
stern  to  guide  it  aright.  These  large  steering-oars  did  not  differ  in  shape 
from  the  other  oars  ; they  were  also  put  into  rowlocks,  and  were  secured 
by  a rope  to  prevent  their  being  lost.  The  helmsman  usually  steered 
standing. 

Nearly  all  the  boats  seem  to  have  been  adapted  for  sailing  as  well  as 
for  rowing,  except  under  the  Old  Empire,  when  sailing  seems  to  have  been 
an  art  that  was  little  developed.  We  know  of  one  sail  only,  and  that  is  a 
rectangular  square-sail  which  was  probably  made  of  papyrus  matting. 

The  mast  is  very  curious,  for  as  one  piece  of  wood  was  not  strong 
enough  alone,  the  Egyptians  used  two  comparatively  slender  masts  bound 
together  at  the  top.  A strong  rope  went  from  the  top  of  the  mast  to 
the  bows,  and  another  to  the  stern — these  correspond  to  our  shrouds , i.e. 
the  ropes  which  keep  the  mast  in  place.  In  addition,  six  to  twelve 
thinner  shrouds  were  fastened  from  the  upper  part  of  the  mast  to  the  back 
part  of  the  boat. 

The  yard-arm  rested  on  the  point  of  the  mast  ; the  sailors  were  able  to 
turn  it  to  the  right  or  left  by  two  ropes  which  passed  backwards  from 
the  ends  of  the  yard.  The  sail  hung  down  to  the  edge  of  the  boat,  and 
was  provided  in  some  cases  at  any  rate  with  a second  yard  below  ; it  was 
of  considerable  size  in  comparison  to  the  size  of  the  boat.  Thus  a boat 
of  perhaps  52  feet  in  length,  with  oars  10  feet  and  steering-oars  16  feet 
long,  would  have  a mast  of  33  feet  and  a yard  of  20  feet,  so  that  the  sail 
would  contain  from  600  to  700  square  feet  of  canvas.4  When  the  wind 
dropped  and  the  sail  was  lowered  in  order  to  row,  the  yard  was  taken  off 

1 Diim.  Res.,  4. 

2 Pointed  oars  : Diim.  Res.,  5.  Broader  : Diim.  Res.,  3 ; L.  D.,  ii.  22,  32,  45  a,  b.  In  rowlocks  : 
Diim.  Res.,  35.  Stuck  through  the  edge  : Diim.  Res.,  4.  Provided  with  a line  : Diim.  Res.,  3,  4; 
L.  D. , ii.  45  b. 

3 Rudders — especially  important  : Diim.  Res.,  3,  4,  5 ; L.  D.,  ii.  28,  32,  45,  62,  103  b. 

4 Diim.  Res.,  5. 


482 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


and  the  mast  taken  down  ; the  sail  was  then  wrapped  round  both,  and  the 
whole  laid  on  the  top  of  the  cabin  or  hung  on  forked  posts.1 

As  I have  already  remarked,  the  pictures  under  the  Old  Empire 
represent  several  different  sorts  of  boats,  the  inscriptions  also  do  not 
speak  of  boats  simply,  but  of  “ square-boats,  stern-boats,  tow-boats,”  etc. 
In  the  following  pages  I shall  only  speak  of  the  more  striking  variations 
in  the  form  of  these  ancient  boats.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  best  and 
quickest  craft  under  the  Old  Empire  were  the  long  flat  sailing-boats  used 


LARGE  BOAT  FOR  TRAVELLING  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  OLD  EMPIRE. 

The  master  is  standing  before  the  cabin,  his  scribes  are  bringing  their  reports  to  him 
(after  L.  D. , ii.  45  b). 


by  men  of  rank  for  their  journeys.2  They  were  built  of  a light  yellow 
wood,  doubtless  a foreign  pine  wood.  As  we  see,  they  differ  from  the 
other  boats  in  that  the  fore  and  hind  parts  are  shorter  and  lower  than  is 
otherwise  customary  ; these  are  also  frequently  thrown  into  relief  by 
decoration  ; they  may  be  painted  dark  blue,  or  the  prow  may  end  in  the 
carved  head  of  an  animal  ; this  head  is  always  turned  backwards,  contrary 
to  the  direction  of  the  figure-heads  in  our  modern  ships.  On  the  black 

1 Concerning  the  masts,  sails,  and  rigging  of  the  O.  E.,  cp.  especially  Diim.  Res.,  4,  5 ; L.  D.,  ii. 
28,  43  a,  64  bis  a,  96.  Sail  rolled  up:  L.  D.,  ii.  45  a.  Mast  and  yard  lying  down:  L.  D.,  ii. 
103  b.  The  foot-rope  yard,  the  occurrence  of  which  under  the  O.  E.  Glaser  denies  : L.  D.,  ii.  28. 
In  the  same  example  there  is  a rope  between  the  two  halves  of  the  mast,  which  probably  served  to 
raise  the  foot-rope  yard. 

2 Large  sailing-boats  for  travelling  (generally  represented  two  together) : L.  D.,  ii.  22,  28,  43  a, 
45  a,  b,  64  bis  a,  96  ; Diim.  Res.,  4,  5.  Similar  row-boats  : L.  D.,  ii.  22,  24,  43  a ; Dtim.  Res.,  3. 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


483 


wooden  deck  behind  the  mast  stands  the  cabin,  the  sides  of  which  consist 
of  prettily  plaited  matting,  or  of  white  linen,  that  can  be  wholly  or  partly 
taken  down.  During  the  journey  the  cabin  is  the  home  of  the  master,  for 
even  if  he  holds  the  rank  of  an  admiral  he  takes  no  part  of  course  in  the 
management  of  the  boat.  We  have  not  yet  mentioned  the  pilot,  who, 
with  a pole  in  his  hand  to  sound  the  depth,  stands  in  the  bows  and  gives 
directions  to  the  steersmen.  When  they  approach  the  bank  in  order  to 
disembark,  the  pilot  has  to  call  to  the  men  who  are  to  help  with  the 
landing,  and  as  he  has  to  do  this  when  at  some  distance  from  shore,  we 
find  that  (even  as  early  as  the  4th  dynasty)  a speaking  trumpet  was  used 
for  this  purpose.1  The  sailor  squatting  behind  on  the  roof  of  the  cabin 
has  a responsible  position  ; he  looks  after  the  sail,  and  with  quick  gestures 
repeats  the  commands  of  the  pilot.  In  addition  to  the  sail,  these  vessels 


SMALL  BOAT  FOR  TRAVELLING  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  OLD  EMPIRE,  BUILT  IN  A DIFFERENT  WAY 
FROM  THE  LARGE  BOAT,  WITH  HIGH  STERN,  AND  WITHOUT  ANY  OARS  (after  L.  D. , ii.  43  a). 

almost  always  carry  oars,  generally  about  a dozen  on  either  side.  The 
number  of  rudder-oars  to  steer  the  vessel  varies  according  to  the  number 
of  oars, — to  nine  oars  on  a side  there  belong  two  rudder-oars  ; to  fourteen, 
three  ; to  twenty-one,  four. 

The  large  row-boats  are  nearly  related  to  the  above  splendid  class  of 
vessel  ; they  also  have  flat  stern  and  bow  ; the  cabin  however  takes  up 
nearly  the  whole  length  of  the  vessel.  These  boats  do  not  seem  to  be 
intended  for  sailing, — in  fact  there  would  be  no  room  for  a mast  on  account 
of  the  size  of  the  cabin. 

The  space  on  board  the  larger  transport  vessels  was  still  more 
restricted  ; 2 all  the  room  was  utilised  for  stowage,  so  that  the  space  allotted 
to  the  rowers  and  steersmen  was  insufficient  and  uncomfortable.  The 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  28. 

- Large  transport  vessels : L.  D. , ii.  62,  104  b ; Diim.  Res.,  3.  Similar  ones,  but  arranged  for 
sailing  also:  L.  D. , ii.  103.  Small  transport  vessels:  L.  D.,  ii.  96,  103. 


484 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


outer  edge  was  high,  so  as  to  give  more  ship  space,  while  in  the  middle  of 
the  vessel  stood  the  large  main  cabin,  and  just  behind  it  a second  cabin, 
the  roof  of  which  sloped  downwards  to  the  stern.  Nevertheless,  it  was 
not  enough  that  thus  four-fifths  of  the  length  of  the  vessel  should  be  taken 


LARGE  CARGO-BOAT  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  OLD  EMPIRE. 

The  rowers  appear  to  have  hung  their  oars  to  the  neck  of  the  calf  (after  L.  D. , ii.  62). 


up  with  the  cabins,  even  the  remaining  fifth  was  not  left  for  the  rowers, 
but  had  to  serve  as  space  for  the  cattle  for  transport.  The  three  or  four 
men,  therefore,  who  rowed  a freight  vessel  of  this  kind,  had  to  balance 
themselves  on  a balustrade  erected  in  the  stern,  whilst  the  two  steersmen 
had  to  manage  their  rudder-oars  from  the  sloping  roof  of  the  stern  cabin.1 

Besides  the  freight  vessels  proper,  there  were  special  small  boats  that 
were  used  for  carrying  lesser  weights  ; these  could  be  rowed  and  steered 


SMALL  CARGO-BOAT  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  OLD  EMPIRE  (after  L.  D. , ii.  104  b). 

at  the  same  time  by  one  man,  and  might,  for  instance,  accompany  the 
large  sailing  boat  of  a gentleman  and  his  suite  as  provision  boats. 

When  sailing  was  impossible  owing  to  contrary  winds,  or,  as  is  too 
often  the  case  on  the  Nile,  when  a dead  calm  ensued,  the  sailors  had  to 
resort  to  the  tedious  work  of  towing,  owing  to  the  strong  current.2  In 
the  pictures  of  the  vessels  therefore,  even  of  the  Old  Empire,  we  see  that 
most  of  them  have  a strong  post  round  which  the  tow-rope  can  be 

1 They  fastened  a cross  piece  to  their  rudder-oar,  which  afforded  them  a firmer  grip. 

2 The  towing  of  a funerary  vessel  by  towdines  and  by  small  boats  : L.  D. , ii.  101  b.  The  towing 
of  the  bark  of  the  sun  in  the  Book  of  the  Dead.  Concerning  the  vessel  called  the  Sat',  cp.  also 
the  inscription  of  Un’e. 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


485 


twisted.  In  travelling  by  boat  the  Egyptians  of  old  times  were  so  accus- 
tomed to  this  wearisome  expedient  that  they  could  not  even  imagine  that 
their  gods  could  do  without  it,  and  according  to  their  belief  the  bark  of 
the  sun-god  had  nightly  to  be  towed  through  the  netherworld  ; it  was 
only  by  day  it  could  go  forwards  on  the  ocean  of  the  sky  by  means  of  its 
sails  and  oars. 

Vessels  that  were  intended  to  carry  a large  freight  seem  to  have  been 
always  towed  either  by  men  or  by  other  vessels  ; they  were  too  heavy  for 
independent  movement.  We  must  here  mention  the  boat  called  the  Sat', 
the  name  of  which  probably  signifies  tow-boat.  Neither  the  prow  nor  the 


TOW-BOAT  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  5TH  DYNASTY. 

The  lath-crate  is  worthy  of  notice,  in  which  the  coffin  is  enclosed  during  transport  (after  L.  D. , ii.  76  e). 

poop  was  specially  characteristic,  except  that  at  both  ends  there  was  a short 
perpendicular  post  for  the  tow-line.  They  were  steered,  like  all  vessels 
of  the  Old  Empire,  by  means  of  long  oars.  This  kind  of  vessel  was 
employed  in  the  transport  of  blocks  from  the  quarries  on  the  eastern 
bank  to  the  pyramids  and  tombs  of  the  Memphite  necropolis.  The 
vessel  represented  here,  which  is  expressly  stated  to  be  unusually  large, 
belonged  to  King  ’Ess’e  of  the  5 th  dynasty,  and  bore  the  name  of  “ Fame 
of  ’Ess’e.”  In  our  picture  she  is  laden  with  the  sarcophagus  and  the 
sarcophagus  cover,  which  the  king  presented  as  a gift  to  his  faithful 
servant,  the  chief  judge,  Send'em’eb. 

The  vessels  of  which  we  have  hitherto  spoken  all  belong  to  the  time 
of  the  Old  Empire.  During  the  obscure  period  at  the  close  of 

this  epoch,1  great  improvements  were  probably  introduced,  for  the 
vessels  of  the  Middle  Empire  are  considerably  better  than  those  of 
earlier  date." 

In  our  illustration  the  clumsy  steering-oars  used  under  the  Old  Empire 
have  been  replaced  by  a large  rudder,  which  is  easily  managed  with  a rope 
by  the  helmsman.  The  two  laths  used  formerly  as  a substitute  for  a mast 
have  also  been  replaced  by  a strong  pole-mast.  From  this  time  also  the 

1 We  first  see  the  mast  formed  of  one  trunk,  and  the  shorter  sail  provided  with  a double  yard, 
and  richer  rigging,  in  the  relief  of  a certain  [j  □ [j  (Dyn.  VI.),  brought  to  Boulak  in  1885  ; 

unfortunately  I made  no  notes  as  to  the  manner  of  steering. 

2 Vessels  of  the  M.  E.  (all  from  Beni  Hasan) — sailing  vessels:  L.  D.,  ii.  127,  ib.  126 
(Ros.  M.  C.,  109,  1);  the  latter  have  still  the  old-fashioned  mast.  Vessel  for  the  women  : L.  D., 
ii.  126  ( = Ros.  M.  C.,  109,  2);  Ros.  M.  C.,  105,  1.  Vessel  disembarking:  Ros.  M.  C., 
106,  2. 


486 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


sail  is  always  provided  with  a lower  yard,  and  the  upper  one,  instead  of 
being  fixed  to  the  top  of  the  mast,  is  fastened  to  it  by  movable  rope- 
rings,  so  that  it  can  be  raised  or  lowered  at  will.  The  rigging  has  also 
been  very  much  improved,  so  that  altogether  the  vessels  are  far  more  easy 


BOAT  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  MIDDLE  EMPIRE  (after  L.  D. , ii.  127). 


to  navigate  than  they  were  under  the  Old  Empire.  Even  the  large  row- 
boats have  their  share  in  these  improvements  ; they  also  have  now  a true 
rudder,  and  the  rowers  sit  on  trestle  seats  placed  on  the  deck  of  the 
vessel  ; there  is  also  a beautiful  cabin  with  sides  of  gay  matting,  with 
windows,  and  with  a pleasant  airy  roof,  where  the  women  and  children  of 
the  master  can  enjoy  a cool  resting-place  during  the  journey. 

For  a long  time  the  Egyptian  boats  did  not  advance  beyond  this 
stage  of  development,  and  there  is  not  really  much  worthy  of  mention 
amongst  the  innovations  introduced  under  the  New  Empire.1  The  most 


BOAT  FOR  TRAVELLING  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  NEW  EMPIRE  (after  W. , ii.  224). 


important  is  the  abnormal  breadth  of  the  sail.  Under  the  Old  Empire 
the  sail  was  considerably  higher  than  it  was  broad  ; under  the  Middle 
Empire  the  breadth  somewhat  exceeded  the  height ; but  under  the  New 
Empire  it  sometimes  attained  such  an  immense  breadth  that  no  pole  was 
long  enough  to  serve  as  yard,  and  it  became  necessary  to  join  two  poles 

1 Many  kinds  of  vessels  are  mentioned  in  the  literature  of  the  New  Empire : for  a picture  of  the 
usech,  see  L.  D.,  iii.  10  a,  of  the  Diim.  Flotte,  2.  Representations  of  “ vessels  for  travelling  : 

L.  D.,  iii.  10  ( = Ros.  M.  C.,  no),  ib.  1 16  ; W.,  ii.  224.  State  vessels,  royal  vessels:  L.  D., 
iii.  17  a.  From  the  tomb  of  Ramses  IV.:  Ros.  M.  C.,  105-10S.  “ Transport  vessels  ” : L.  D. , 

iii.  10,  76,  1 16  ; \V.,  ii.  213.  A “fishing  craft”  in  full  sail : \Y.,  ii.  102. 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


487 


together  for  this  purpose.  For  instance,  under  the  Old  Empire  a large 
vessel,  perhaps  52  feet  long,  would  have  a mast  of  about  33  feet  high 
and  a yard  20  feet  long.  Under  the  Middle  Empire  the  mast  would  be 
reduced  to  the  height  of  16  feet,  whilst  the  yard  retained  its  length  of 
20  feet.  Under  the  Xew  Empire  the  yard  would  be  lengthened  to 
perhaps  32  feet,  thus  double  the  height  of  the  mast.  These  immense 
sails  naturally  required  an  increase  of  rigging,  which  necessitated  a fresh 
arrangement,  consequently  the  mast  was  furnished  with  a kind  of  round 
head,  a lath-box  fastened  to  the  top.  Under  the  Xew  Empire  we  find  in 
the  bows  and  often  also  in  the  stern  of  the  larger  sailing  vessels,  a wooden 
boarding  half  the  height  of  a man  ; this  serves  as  a place  for  the  pilot  or 
the  captain  “ who  stands  in  the  bows  and  does  not  let  his  voice  be 
wanting.”1  The  cabin  itself  is  higher  than  in  the  older  period,2  and  in 
outward  appearance  somewhat  resembles  a house  with  doors  and  windows. 
The  baggage  of  the  master  is  piled  up  on  the  flat  roof ; room  must  be 
found  there  even  for  his  carriage,  for  no  grandee  of  the  Xew  Empire 
travelled  without  this  newfangled  means  of  transport  with  him. 

The  tendency  to  luxury,  which  is  so  characteristic  of  all  the  later 
epochs  of  Egyptian  history,  naturally  had  its  effect  on  the  adorn- 
ment of  their  vessels.  Under  the  Old  Empire  the  vessel  used  by  the 
princes  in  travelling  was  a simple  narrow  boat,  adorned  merely  with  the 
head  of  a ram  at  the  bows  ; under  the  Xew  Empire,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  vessel  of  a man  of  rank  had  to  be  decorated  in  the  most 
sumptuous  manner.3  The  cabin  has  become  a stately  house  with  a de- 
lightful roof  and  an  entrance  adorned  with  pillars  ; the  sides  of  the  vessel 
gleam  with  the  brightest  colours,  and  are  adorned  in  the  fore  part  with 
large  paintings  ; the  stern  resembles  a gigantic  lotus  flower  ; the  blade 
of  the  rudder-oar  resembles  a bouquet  of  flowers,  whilst  the  knob  at  the 
top  is  fashioned  into  the  head  of  a king  ; the  sails  (of  the  temple-barks  at 
any  rate)  consist  of  the  richest  cloth  of  the  most  brilliant  colours.  A good 
example  of  the  extent  to  which  luxury  was  carried  in  this  particular, 
under  the  Xew  Empire,  is  seen  in  the  royal  vessel  of  Thothmes  III. 
This  vessel  bears  the  very  same  name  as  it  bore  under  the  Old 
Empire,  viz.  “Star  of  the  two  countries”  ;4  it  is  therefore  nominally  the 
same  royal  vessel  as  carried  King  Chufu  fifteen  centuries  before,5  but  how 
different  is  its  appearance  compared  with  the  ancient  simplicity.  The 
cabin  is  now  a building  with  a front  door  and  tapestried  walls  of  gay 
colours  ; the  boardings  for  the  helmsman  and  the  captain  resemble  chapels, 
and  near  the  latter  there  stands,  as  figure-head,  the  statue  of  a wild  bull 
trampling  men  underfoot,  evidently  in  allusion  to  the  “ victorious  bull," 
i.e.  the  king. 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  10  a.  2 L.  D.,  iii.  10  a,  116. 

3 A travelling  vessel  of  this  kind  (e.g.  for  the  official  journeys  of  the  great  lords — An.  ,4.6,  1 1 : 


to  convey  them  to  their  country  houses:  An.,  4,  3,  6)  is  called 
Bair.  The  same  vessels  are  also  used  on  the  sea — Harr.,  77,  8. 


488 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


This  luxury  only  extended,  as  I need  scarcely  observe,  to  the  vessels 
used  for  travelling  by  rich  people.  The  transport  vessels  under  the  New 
Empire  remained  as  unadorned  as  before.  They  were  merely  furnished 


TWO  CARGO-BOATS  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  NEW  EMPIRE  : THEY  ARE  ONLY  ADAPTED  FOR  TOWING. 

They  are  moored  to  the  bank  (after  W. , ii.  213). 

with  a rough  latticed  partition  on  the  deck  for  the  cattle  or  for  other 
freight.1 

Besides  their  river-travelling,  the  Egyptians,  even  in  early  times,  made 
sea  voyages,  though  indeed  only  in  a modest  way.  The  sea  ships 2 of 
Queen  Chnemtamun,  the  only  ones  of  which  we  possess  any  representation, 
exactly  resemble  the  large  river-boats  of  her  time  ; in  addition  to  an 
immense  sail,  they  have  thirty  rowers.3  These  vessels  did  very  well  for 
coasting  expeditions  to  the  incense  countries  or  to  Syria,  and  the  Egyptians 
rarely  if  ever  undertook  longer  voyages. 

As  I have  already  remarked,  travelling  by  land  in  Egypt  was  quite  an 
unimportant  matter  compared  to  river  travelling.  Every  journey  was  really 
made  by  water  ; it  was  only  for  the  short  distances  from  the  Nile  to  their 
destination  that  the  Egyptians  required  other  means  of  conveyance. 
Men  of  rank  of  the  Old  Empire  made  use  generally  of  a litter,4  consisting 
of  a seat  with  a canopy  over  it,  which  was  carried  on  the  shoulders 
of  twelve  or  more  servants  ; men  walked  by  the  side  with  long  fans,5 
and  waved  fresh  air  to  the  master,  whilst  another  servant  carried  a 


1 What  is  the  purpose  of  the  rope  which  passes  above  over  the  vessel  ? — These  transport  vessels 

of  the  New  Empire  are  called  'Q  oxen  ferry-boats,  and  serve,  for  instance,  for  the 

transport  of  wine  : An.  ,4,6,  1 1 . 

2 Under  the  New  Empire  a sea  ship  is  called  j An.,  4,  3,  10;  Harr.,  i.  48,  6,  77, 


8 ; also  ib.  48,  6,  as  sea  ship  the 


I 


> and  ib.  77,  8,  the  bpayr ; yet  com- 


pared with  the  menesh , the  two  latter  are  rather  ships  for  escort.  Under  the  Middle  Empire  the 
Egyptians  made  voyages  on  the  sea  in  the  ‘ah'a  (A.  Z.,  1882,  203) ; we  find  the  same  under  the  New 
Empire  as  Nile  boats,  Harr.,  i.  77,  13. 

3 Here  also  a rope  runs  horizontally  over  the  vessel  about  6 feet  above  it. 

4 L.  D. , ii.  50  a,  78  b.  Relief  of ’Ep’e  at  Gizeh. 

5 I stated  erroneously  that  under  the  Old  Empire  these  fans  were  used  as  standards  (see  p.  100). 
They  consist  of  a long  handle,  to  which  is  fastened  a rectangular  framework  covered  with  linen,  on 
the  narrow  side  of  which  is  a large  movable  flap  (of  feathers  ?),  which  played  backwards  and 
forwards  when  the  fan  was  used. 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


489 


SAILING  BOAT  OK  QUEEN  CHNEMTAMUN  ON  TIIE  VOYAGE  TO  THE  INCENSE-COUNTRIES 
(after  Diim,  Flotte,  PI.  I.  Cp.  also  the  picture,  p.  513). 


490 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAr. 


skin  of  water  for  his  refreshment.  Under  the  Middle  Empire  also  we 
meet  with  a similar  litter,  but  without  a canopy  ; in  the  latter  picture,  how- 
ever, a servant  is  seen  carrying  a kind  of  large  shield-umbrella,  which  might 
be  used  not  only  to  shade  the  master  from  the  sun,  but  also  on  a stormy 
spring  day  to  shelter  him  from  the  wind.1  As  at  the  present  day,  the 
people  in  general  made  use  of  the  donkey  as  the  best  way  of  getting 
about  ; the  donkey  is  as  it  were  created  for  the  particular  conditions 
found  in  Egypt  ; it  is  an  indefatigable  and,  in  good  examples,  also  a swift 
animal,  and  is  able  to  go  everywhere.  Yet  it  seems  to  have  been  con- 
sidered scarcely  proper  to  use  it  for  riding  ; we  never  find  any  one  repre- 


JOURNEY  IN  A DONKEY  SEDAN-CHAIR. 

Two  runners  accompany  their  master,  one  in  front  to  clear  the  way  for  him,  the  other  to  fan 
him  and  to  drive  the  donkey  (after  L.  D.,  ii.  43  a). 

sented  riding  on  a donkey,  though  there  is  an  unmistakable  donkey-saddle 
in  the  Berlin  Museum,  which  vouches  for  this  practice,  at  any  rate  under 
the  New  Empire.2  Nevertheless  there  was  no  impropriety  in  a man  of 
rank  travelling  in  the  country  in  a kind  of  seat  fastened  to  the  backs  of 
two  donkeys,  as  we  see  by  a pleasing  representation  of  the  time  of  the 
Old  Empire.3 

Under  the  New  Empire  this  seat,  as  well  as  the  litter  proper,  appear 
to  have  fallen  into  disuse,  though  the  latter  was  still  employed  on  cere- 
monial occasions  ; 4 the  reason  seems  to  have  been  that  in  the  meantime 
a far  better  means  of  conveyance  had  been  introduced  into  Egypt,  viz. 
the  horse  and  carriage.  It  has  been  conjectured  that  the  Egyptians  owed 
the  horse  and  carriage  to  their  barbarian  conquerors  the  Hyksos  ; but  this 
has  not  been  proved,  though,  on  the  other  hand,  we  may  consider  it  as 
certain  that  they  were  introduced  during  the  dark  period  between  the 
Middle  and  the  New  Empire,  for  horses  and  chariots  are  represented  for 
the  first  time  on  the  monuments  of  the  1 8th  dynasty.  The  word  htor, 
which  in  later  times  signified  horse,  occurs  once  at  any  rate  as  a personal 
name  on  a stela  of  the  13  th  dynasty;0  but  as  the  original  meaning  of 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  I26=W.,  i.  421. 

2 Berlin,  789.  Incidentally  in  a letter  of  the  New  Empire  (A.  Z.,  1881,  1 1 9)  there  is  the  men- 
tion of  the  shoeing  of  a donkey  with  bronze.  3 L.  D.,  ii.  43  a. 

4 By  the  king  : L.  D.,  iii.  100,  121  a ; by  a high  priest : L.  D.,  iii.  97  b. 

5 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab,  364. 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


491 


this  word  signifies  two  animals  yoked  together  (somewhat  like  our  word 
team),  it  might  therefore  be  used  in  the  older  period  to  indicate  two  oxen 
ploughing,  as  well  as  in  later  times  in  speaking  of  the  horses  of  a carriage. 
We  cannot  therefore  determine  to  which  nation  was  due  the  introduction 
of  the  horse  into  anterior  Asia  and  into  Egypt,  until  we  know  from  what 
language  the  word  was  derived,  which  became  in  Egyptian  ssmt  and  smsm } 
and  in  the  Canaanite  and  Aramaic  tongues  DID  ; this  word  being  used  in 
both  countries  for  horse. 

On  the  other  hand  it  was  certainly  from  the  Semites,  and  indeed  from 
the  Canaanites,  that  the  Egyptians  borrowed  the  two  forms  of  carriage, 
which  became  the  fashion  under  the  New  Empire,  and  were  used  till  quite 
late  times,2  viz.  the  merkdbd  and  ‘ agala , or  rather  as  they  were  called  by 
the  Egyptians,  the  merkobt  and  the  ‘ago/t.  Whether  there  were  vehicles 
of  any  kind  in  Egypt  before  the  introduction  of  the  above  must  remain 
uncertain.3 

Concerning  the  ‘ agolt , we  only  know  that  it  was  drawn  by  oxen,  and 
used  for  the  transport  of  provisions  to  the  mines  ; 4 it  was  therefore  a kind 
of  baggage  waggon.  More  is  known  about  the  merkobt,  which  was  used 
for  driving  for  pleasure,0  for  travelling,6  for  hunting  in  the  desert,'  and  in 
war.  It  was  a small  very  light  vehicle,  in  which  there  was  barely  room  for 
three  persons  to  stand,  so  light  in  fact  that  it  was  said  by  an  Egyptian 
poet ‘s  that  a carriage  weighed  five  uten  and  its  axle  weighed  three— this 
must  of  course  be  a gross  exaggeration,  for  the  very  lightest  carriage 
would  weigh  more  than  eight  uten  (728  g.  or  about  1^  lbs.). 

The.  merkobt'''  (cp.  the  illustrations,  pp.  75,  408,  547)  never  had  more 
than  two  wheels  ; these  were  carefully  made  of  different  wood  or  metal, 
and  had  four,  or  more  usually  six  spokes.  The  axle  carried  the  body  of 
the  carriage,  which  consisted  of  a floor,  surrounded  in  front  and  at  the 
sides  with  a lightly-hung  wooden  railing.  The  pole  was  let  into  this 
flooring,  and  for  better  security  was  fastened  by  straps  to  the  railing  ; at 
the  end  of  the  pole  there  was  a cross-bar,  the  ends  of  which  were  bent 
into  a hook  form,  and  served  for  the  fastening  of  the  harness.  The  harness 
was  of  a remarkable  simplicity.  Traces  were  at  this  time  unknown  to 
the  Egyptians  ; round  the  breasts  of  the  two  horses  there  passed  a broad 
strap,  which  was  fastened  to  the  transverse  bar  of  the  pole,  and  by  this 
alone  the  carriage  was  drawn.  In  order  that  this  strap  should  not  rub  the 
necks  of  the  horses,  the  Egyptians  put  behind  it  underneath  a broad 


1 The  manner  of  writing  this  foreign  word  leads  us  to  infer  that  it  was  introduced  into  Egypt 
earlier  than  HDDID  or  the  terms  for  carriage.  2 Both  words  are  found  in  the  Coptic. 

3 There  is  a third  word  for  carriage  tcretyt,  which  may  be  of  Egyptian  origin.  If  from  a foreign 
source,  judging  by  the  way  it  is  written,  it  must  have  been  introduced  into  the  language  earlier  than 
the  other  two  words,  in  the  same  way  as  one  word  for  horse. 

4 L.  D.,  iii.  219  e.  6 Tur.,  16.  6 L.  D.,  iii.  10  a. 


Tomb  of 


■’ll- 


at  Thebes. 


An.,  3,  6,  7. 


9 The  following  is  after  L.  D.,  iii.  10  a bis,  and  many  similar  pictures.  Cp.  also  the  representa- 
tions of  carriage-building,  Ros.  M.  C.,  44  ; and  also  carriages  still  in  existence  ( = W.,  i.  227-231, 
232,  234,  236). 


492 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


piece  of  leather,  to  the  metal  covering  of  which  the  strap  was  fastened  ; 
a smaller  strap  was  passed  from  the  back  piece  under  the  belly  to  the 
pole,  to  prevent  the  broad  strap  from  shifting  from  its  place.  Reins  were 
used  to  guide  the  horses  ; they  passed  over  a hook  in  the  back  piece  to 
the  bits  in  the  mouths  of  the  horses.  The  fashion  of  head-gear  resembled 
that  used  everywhere  at  the  present  day,  and  from  the  time  of  the  19th 
dynasty  blinkers  also  were  employed.1 

All  Egyptian  carriages  were  built  in  the  above  manner,  and  were 
only  distinguished  from  each  other  by  the  greater  or  less  luxury  of  the 
equipment.  In  many  the  straps  of  the  harness  and  the  leather  covering 
of  the  frame  of  the  carriage  were  coloured  purple;  all  the  metal  parts  were 
gilded  ; the  plumes  of  the  horses  were  stuck  into  little  heads  of  lions,  and 
even  the  wheel-nail  was  carved  into  the  shape  of  a captive  Asiatic. 

This  rich  equipment  alone  shows  what  value  the  Egyptians  put  upon 
their  carriages  and  horses.  Wherever  it  is  possible  they  are  represented, 
and  it  is  a favourite  theme  of  the  litterateurs  of  the  time  to  describe  and 
extol  them.  The  coachman,  the  Kaf ana  (a  foreign  term  by  which  he 
was  called),  is  found  in  every  household  of  men  of  rank  ;2  and  at  court 
the  office  of  “ first  Kat'ana  to  his  Majesty  ” was  such  an  important  post 
that  it  was  held  even  by  princes.  The  favourite  horses  of  the  king,  the 
“ first  great  team  of  his  Majesty,”  bear  high-sounding  names  ; thus,  for 
instance,  two  belonging  to  Sety  I.  are  called  “ Amon  bestows  strength,” 
and  “ Amon  entrusts  him  with  victory,”  the  latter  bears  also  the  additional 
name  “ Anat  (the  goddess  of  war)  is  content.” 3 We  learn  from  these 
names  that  the  horses  were  trained  to  go  into  battle  ; and  consequently 
fiery  high-spirited  horses  were  preferred.  Thus  the  horses  of  Ramses  II. 
required,  in  addition  to  the  driver,  three  servants  to  hold  them  by  the 
bridle,4  and  in  other  places  Egyptian  horses  are  usually  represented  rearing 
or  pawing  the  ground  impatiently.  As  a rule  stallions  were  used  rather 
than  mares;5  the  colour  of  the  animals  was  generally  brown, — in  a few 
instances  however  we  meet  with  a team  of  fine  white  horses.6 *  As  far  as 
I know  geldings  were  not  in  use  at  this  period.  Those  who  required 
quiet  animals  preferred  to  employ  mules  ; in  a pretty  Theban  tomb-picture 
we  see  the  latter  animals  drawing  the  carriage  of  a gentleman  who  is 
inspecting  his  fields  ; they  are  so  easy  to  manage  that  a boy  is  acting  as 
coachman.1 

The  horse  was  also  used  for  riding  in  Egypt,  but  as  with  other 
nations  of  antiquity,  riding  was  quite  a secondary  matter.  We  have  no 
representations  of  Egyptians  on  horseback,8  and  were  it  not  for  a few 

1 L.  D. , 153  and  often.  2 In  a private  house,  L.  D.,  iii.  10  a bis. 

3 L.  D.,  iii.  128  a,  130  b;  ib.  126  b;  a third,  ib.  126  a.  Those  of  Ramses  II.,  ib.  153,  165, 

and  frequently  ib.  160,  166. 

4 L.  D.,  iii.  153.  5 L.  D.,  iii.  153. 

6 E.g.  in  the  above-mentioned  tomb  of  ’Em-nud'em. 

7 From  a photograph  of  a wall-picture  in  the  British  Museum. 

8 Barbarians  in  flight  on  horseback,  Ros.  M.  C.,  1 20.  The  Semitic  goddess  of  war  is  also 

represented  on  horseback,  L.  D.,  iii.  1380. 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


493 


literary  allusions,  we  should  not  know  that  the  subjects  of  the  Pharaoh 
understood  at  all  how  to  ride.  Thus  in  one  place  we  hear  of  the 
“ officers  (?)  who  are  on  horseback  ” pursuing  the  vanquished  enemies,1 
and  one  of  the  didactic  letters  speaks  of  “ every  one 
who  mounts  horses.”  2 In  one  story  we  read  that  the 
queen  accompanied  the  Pharaoh  on  horseback,3  and 
the  satirical  writer  mentioned  above  (p.  380)  says  that 
he  received  the  letter  from  his  opponent  when  “ seated 
on  horseback.” 4 At  the  same  time  we  must  repeat 
that  the  use  of  horses  for  riding  was  quite  a secondary 
matter  : the  chief  purpose  for  which  they  were  used 
was  driving. 

Before  I leave  this  subject  I must  touch  upon  a 
question  that  has  been  much  discussed,  viz.  the  intro- 
duction of  the  camel  into  Egypt.  It  may  be  con- 
sidered as  a proven  point  that  this  animal,  which 
seems  now  so  indispensable  for  desert-travelling,  was 
first  introduced  into  Egypt  after  the  periods  with 
which  we  are  concerned.  The  camel  does  not  appear 
in  any  inscription  or  picture  before  the  Greek  period,0 
and  even  under  Ramses  III.  the  donkey  is  still 
expressly  mentioned  as  the  beast  of  burden  of  the 
desert 6 

BATTLE-AXE,  THE  RE- 

These  facilities  for  locomotion,  the  development  presentation  of  a 
of  which  we  have  traced  above,  naturally  rendered  the  )1AN’t  °j!riHORSEBACK 
intercourse  between  the  individual  provinces  of  Egypt  the  blade 
practicable.  Yet  owing  to  the  long  serpent-like  form  (after  \\.,  1.  278). 
of  the  country,  the  distances  between  most  of  the  towns  were  of  a dispro- 
portionate length;  this  intercourse  was  therefore  always  of  a limited  nature. 
The  distance  from  Thebes  to  Memphis  was  about  340  miles,  from  Thebes 
to  Tanis  about  430,  and  from  Elephantine  to  Pelusium  as  much  as  58^ 
miles, — distances  corresponding  to  those  between  London  and  Dublin, 
London  and  Perth,  and  between  Brighton  and  Aberdeen.  It  is  quite  true 
that  in  other  countries  of  antiquity,  the  chief  towns  were  often  situate  as 
far  apart,  but  the  latter  had  facilities  of  intercourse  on  all  sides,  while  the 
Egyptian  towns,  from  the  nature  of  the  country,  possessed  neighbours  on 
two  sides  only.  These  conditions  did  not  of  course  tend  to  incite  brisk 
intercourse  between  the  various  parts  of  the  country,  and  the  inhabitants 
of  ancient  Egypt  (like  those  of  modern  date)  were  generally  content  with 
journeys  to  the  neighbouring  provinces. 

Facilities  for  correspondence  by  letter  seem,  on  the  other  hand,  to 
have  been  early  developed  ; these  were  doubly  valuable  on  account  of  the 

1 Mar.  Karn.,  53,  38.  2 An.,  4,  3,  4.  3 Orb.,  17,  5.  ^ An.,  i.  4,  6. 

5 The  attempts  to  prove  that  a foreign  term  in  Egyptian  corresponds  to  the  word  camel  rest 

upon  incorrect  readings,  and  may  therefore  be  considered  as  erroneous. 

6 Harr.,  i.  77,  12  ; 78,  3. 


494 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


long  distances  we  have  alluded  to  above.  We  have  already  mentioned 
(p.  384)  that  the  art  of  polite  letter- writing  was  considered  one  of  the  most 
necessary  accomplishments  to  be  acquired  in  the  schools  ; we  must  here 
add  the  little  that  is  known  concerning  the  despatch  of  letters.  When, 
for  instance,  we  read  that  the  writer  is  disappointed  of  the  answer  he  had 
been  expecting  to  his  letter,  and  finally  writes  to  his  friend  that  he  is 
doubtful  whether  his  boy  by  whom  he  had  sent  the  letter  had  arrived.1 
reference  is  evidently  made  to  a private  messenger.  There  are  however 
passages  which  seem  to  indicate  that  there  was  an  established  communi- 
cation by  messengers  regularly  and  officially  sent  out  ; we  read  for 
instance  : “ Write  to  me  by  the  letter-carriers  coming  from  thee  to  me,” 
and  “ write  to  me  concerning  thy  welfare  and  thy  health  by  all  those  who 
come  from  thee  ; . . . not  one  of  those  whom  thou  dost  send  out  arrives 
here.”  2 The  same  letter  from  which  we  have  quoted  the  latter  passage 
gives  us  also  a possible  indication  of  the  manner  in  which  small  consign- 
ments were  sent  from  one  to  another.  The  writer  excuses  himself  for  only 
sending  fifty  loaves  of  bread  to  his  correspondent  ; the  shed  had  indeed 
thrown  away  thirty  because  he  had  too  much  to  carry  ; he  had  also 
omitted  to  inform  him  in  the  evening  of  the  state  of  things,  and  therefore 
he  had  not  been  able  to  arrange  it  all  properly.3 

The  same  conditions  which  rendered  personal  intercourse  difficult, 
prevented  trade  from  assuming  its  due  importance.  For  instance,  the 
texts  never  speak  of  merchants,4 5  which  is  a certain  indication  that  trade 
had  really  an  insignificant  part  to  play.  In  ancient  Egypt  business  was 
transacted  for  the  most  part  in  much  the  same  way  as  it  is  in  the  bazaars 
and  markets  of  the  modern  Egyptian  provincial  towns. 

The  remarkable  pictures  in  a tomb  at  Sakkarah  a show  us  the  scenes 
of  daily  life  in  a market  of  the  time  of  the  Old  Empire  ; they  repre- 
sent a market  such  as  would  be  held  on  the  estate  of  a great  lord  for  his 
servants  and  his  peasants.  The  fish-dealer  is  sitting  before  his  rush  basket, 
he  is  busy  at  this  moment  in  cleaning  a great  sheath-fish,  while  he  haggles 
about  the  price  with  his  customer.  The  latter  carries  her  objects  for 
barter  in  a box,  and  is  very  far  from  being  silent — she  is  holding  a long 
conversation  with  the  salesman  as  to  how  much  she  “ will  give  for  it.”  Near 
this  group  another  tradesman  is  offering  ointment  or  something  similar 
for  sale.  Another  is  selling  some  objects  that  look  like  white  cakes  ; the 
collarette  which  is  offered  him  for  one  of  these  does  not  seem  to  him 
to  be  enough.  “ There  (take)  the  sandals  (as  well),”  says  the  buyer,  and 


1 Bol.,  1086,  7. 

2 An.,  5,  12,  7,  ib.  21,  1.  The  reader  will  observe  the  significance  of  the  expression,  nte  ’ey  de 
mdak , from  which  we  conclude  that  reference  is  made  to  an  established  custom. 

3 An.,  5,  21,  4. 

4 In  Coptic  a merchant  is  termed  eshot,  a term  which  is  not  to  be  considered  as  identical  with 
the  title  shuyte,  though  they  are  generally  considered  as  equivalent.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Coptic 
word  eshot  is  probably  descended  from  the  above-mentioned  word  slid. 

5 L.  D.,  ii.  96.  The  similar  picture,  L.  D.,  ii.  103,  represents  rather  the  delivering  up  of  the 
weaving  to  the  overseer. 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


495 


thus  the  bargain  is  brought  at  last  to  a conclusion.  Brisk  business  is  being 
carried  on  round  the  greengrocer.  One  customer  is  buying  vegetables  in 


MARKETING  UNDER  THE  OLD  EMPIRE  (after  L.  D. , ii.  96). 


exchange  for  a necklet,  and  the  dealer  assures  him  : “ See  I give  the  (full) 
value  ” ; another  customer  comes  up  at  the  same  moment,  in  the  hope  of 
buying  his  meal  of  onions  in  exchange  for  a fan.  Eatables,  however,  are 


496 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EG  YPI 


CHAP. 


not  the  only  things  sold  here  ; there  is  another  dealer  squatting  before  his 
basket  of  red  and  blue  ornaments,  he  is  bargaining  with  a woman  who 
wants  to  buy  one  of  his  bright  strings  of  beads.  By  her  side  is  a man 


with  fish  hooks  (?)  who  seems  to  be  vainly  pressing  his  wares  on  another 
man  standing  by. 

In  the  tomb  of  the  oft-named  Cha'emhe't,  the  superintendent  of  the 
granaries  under  Amenhotep  III.,  there  is  a picture  of  marketing  in  the 
same  small  way  under  the  New  Empire.  The  great  ships  which  have 
brought  in  the  import  of  corn-provision  for  the  state  are  disembarking  in 
the  harbour  of  Thebes,  and  whilst  most  of  the  sailors  are  busy  discharging 
the  freight,  a few  slip  away  quietly  to  the  salesmen  who  are  squatting  on 
the  bank  before  their  jars  and  baskets.1  Two  of  these  dealers  are  evidently 
foreigners,  perhaps  Syrians  ; one  of  the  latter  is  helping  his  wife  to  sell 
her  goods,  and  the  very  primitive  toilette  of  this  lady  leads  us  to  conclude 
that  their  business  is  not  very  nourishing.  They  seem  to  be  selling  food 
of  some  kind,  while  in  exchange  the  sailors  are  probably  giving  the  corn 
that  they  have  received  out  of  the  cargo  as  their  wages.  Goods  of  some 
kind  at  all  events  are  being  exchanged,  for  all  the  trade  of  Egypt  was  carried 
on  by  barter,  and  nothing  was  given  in  payment  except  goods  or  produce. 

It  seems  strange  to  us  of  the  modern  world  that  a nation  should  hold 
markets,  sell  cattle,  lend  on  interest,  pay  salaries,  and  collect  taxes  without 
even  knowing  the  use  of  small  coin  ; but  this  is  really  not  so  difficult  as 
we  might  imagine,  and  the  Mahommedans  of  the  negro  countries  in  Africa 
may  be  cited  as  a proof  that  a comparatively  high  standard  of  civilisation 
is  compatible  with  trade  by  barter. 

Barter  of  this  kind  never  indeed  remains  purely  as  such  for  any  length 
of  time  ; the  exigencies  of  trade  soon  require  that  some  object  should  be 
set  aside  as  an  arbitrary  standard  by  which  the  value  of  the  various  objects 
for  exchange  can  be  measured  and  compared.  Thus  at  the  present  day 
in  the  Sudan,  if  a man  buys  gunpowder,  he  may  perhaps  pay  the 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  76  a. 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


497 


merchant  for  it  in  fowls,  but  in  order  to  know  how  much  juowder  the  one 
has  to  give,  and  how  many  fowls  the  other  has  to  pay,  they  both  reckon 
the  present  market  value  of  their  goods  in  a third  commodity  in  common 
use,  perhaps  in  amber  beads.  They  may  not  make  use  of  any  amber 
beads  in  payment,  or  merely  of  a few  to  adjust  some  slight  difference  in 
value,  but  the  beads  have  become  an  arbitrary  measure  of  value  in  the 
market  by  which  the  price  of  goods  can  be  reckoned.  We  see  that  in 
this  case  amber  beads  really  play  the  part  of  money. 

Measures  of  value  of  this  kind  are  still  common  in  Africa,  and  the 
merchants  who  carry  on  trade  with  the  interior  have  to  acquire  exact 
knowledge  of  the  usages  of  the  various  markets  and  towns.  In  one  place 
beads  may  be  used,  in  another  blocks  of  salt,  in  another  iron  spades  or 
Styrian  razors,  or  perhaps  Merikanis , i.e.  pieces  of  bad  American  cotton 
goods  of  a certain  size. 

The  conditions  of  trade  in  ancient  Africa  were  very  similar  ; under 
the  New  Empire  at  any  rate  a copper  piece  of  one  uten,  i.c.  of  91  grammes, 
was  in  use  as  a measure  of  value.  This  copper  piece  was  in  the  form  of 
a spiral  wire  and  the  weight  was  so  firmly  established  that  a 

wire  of  this  kind  served  in  writing  as  a sign  for  the  uten.  The  reader 
will  see  incidentally  from  a bill  of  goods  given  above  (p.  123),  how  this 
copper  weight  was  used  in  the  reckoning  of  payments.  We  will  give 
another  example,  which  shows  us  how  an  account  was  settled  in  buying  an 
ox.  In  the  latter  case  1 19  uten  of  copper  were  to  be  paid  up  in  all — 1 I 1 
uten  for  the  animal  itself,  the  remainder  in  presents  and  similar  expenses 
— but  of  these  1 1 9 uten  not  one  metal  uten  really  changed  hands.  A 
stick  (?)  with  inlaid  work  was  substituted  for  25  uten,  and  another  of  less 
elaborate  design  for  12  uten,  11  jars  of  honey  for  11  uten,  and  so  on.1 
We  may  observe  that  a few  of  these  legal  tenders  recur  in  various 
reckonings,  for  instance  certain  sorts  of  sticks,  and,  if  I rightly  understand, 
certain  kinds  of  paper  also.  The  meanings  of  most  of  the  terms  used 
in  the  various  accounts  are  unfortunately  unknown  to  us,  and  there- 
fore we  must  forgo  trying  to  solve  the  interesting  problem  as  to  the 
relative  values  of  the  articles  in  greatest  request.  I am  able  however 
to  give  one  instance  : in  the  text  quoted  above,  whilst  an  ox  is  said  to 
be  worth  1 1 1 uten,  with  additional  expenses  bringing  it  up  altogether  to 
1 19  uten,  an  ostracon  at  Berlin  2 gives  the  value  of  a donkey  as  40  uten. 
The  relative  value  therefore  of  an  ox  and  a donkey  was  as  three 
to  one. 

We  see  by  the  important  contracts  of  Hepd'efae’,  which  we  have  had 
occasion  to  cite  several  times,  that  it  was  possible  to  carry  on  complicated 
commercial  transactions  with  these  primitive  conditions  of  payment.  This 
prince,  who  ruled  in  Siut  under  the  Middle  Empire,  desired  that  for  all 
future  time  the  priests  of  his  nome,  with  of  course  indemnification  for  cost, 

1 Inscr.  in  the  hier.  char.,  T.  15. 

- Berlin,  8241.  A comparatively  good  donkey  may  be  purchased  in  Egypt  at  the  present  day 
for  about  80  francs. 


2 K 


498 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


should  present  certain  small  offerings  to  his  ka.  Under  complicated 
conditions  he  made  over  a certain  fund  to  the  temple,  the  yearly  interest 
of  which  would  cover  the  really  small  cost  of  these  loaves  and  lamp-wicks  : 
the  endowments  for  masses  in  the  Middle  Ages  and  also  at  the  present 
day  present  examples  of  a corresponding  custom.  Hepd'efae’  had  recourse 
to  a rather  peculiar  procedure.1  On  one  hand  he  ceded  parts  of  his  fields, 
thus,  e.g.,  he  gave  a piece  of  land  to  a priest  of  Anubis  for  the  yearly 
supply  of  three  wicks.  On  the  other  hand  he  bequeathed  parts  of  his 
revenues,  the  first-fruits  of  his  harvest,  or  the  feet  of  the  legs  of  the  bull 
which  belonged  to  him  and  his  successors  out  of  the  sacrifices  ; but  above 
all  he  preferred  to  pay  with  the  revenues  which  he  drew  as  member  of  a 
priestly  family  from  the  emoluments  of  the  ’Epuat  temple,  the  so-called 
“ days  of  the  temple.”  These  daily  rations,  however,  which  consisted  of 
provisions  of  all  kinds,  could  not  be  received  by  people  who  lived  at  a 
distance  from  the  temple  ; he  was  therefore  obliged,  if  he  wished  to  use 
them  as  payment  for  these  people,  to  have  recourse  to  a system  of  exchange; 
thus  he  gave  up  22  “days  of  the  temple”  to  his  colleagues  in  exchange 
for  a yearly  supply  of  2200  loaves  and  22  jugs  of  beer  to  be  given  to 
those  persons  whom  he  really  wanted  to  pay.  In  this  way  he  exchanged 
those  revenues  of  the  temple,  that  were  unsuitable  to  serve  as  payments, 
into  bread  and  beer,  which  he  could  hand  over  to  any  one. 

Though  the  home  trade  in  Egypt  never  apparently  flourished  to  any 
great  extent,  yet  commerce  with  foreign  countries  seems  to  have  been 
carried  on  at  times  with  brisk  activity.  Nevertheless,  as  far  as  we  know, 
Egypt  always  required  to  possess  a special  political  position  in  order  to 
bring  her  for  a time  into  active  intercourse  with  the  neighbouring  countries  ; 
an  outside  impulse  of  this  kind  being  alone  capable  of  overcoming  the 
natural  barriers — the  rapids,  the  deserts,  and  the  currents  of  the  sea — 
which  divide  the  valley  of  the  Nile  from  all  other  countries.  In  the 
following  pages  we  shall  describe  the  development  of  these  peaceful 
relations  between  Egypt  and  the  neighbouring  states,  and  the  effect  they 
exercised  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  Nile  valley. 

The  country  most  accessible  from  Egypt  is  Nubia,  but  owing  to  the 
unproductive  nature  of  the  soil,  it  was  only  in  late  times,  under  the  influence 
of  Egyptian  government,  that  this  country  attained  a certain  standard  of 
civilisation.  The  northern  part  of  Nubia  was  inhabited  by  a dark  brown 
race,  the  ancestors  of  the  present  Nubians  ; the  Egyptians  classed  them, 
however,  with  all  the  southern  barbarians,  as  Nekes  or  negroes.  The 
natural  political  boundary  between  Egypt  and  Nubia  was  the  first 
cataract.  Here  the  island  of  Elephantine  became  the  place  of  mart,  where 
the  Nubians  exchanged  the  productions  of  their  own  country,  and  the  goods 
that  they  had  obtained  from  tribes  further  to  the  south,  for  Egyptian 
products.  Panther  skins,  monkeys,  ebony,  but  above  all  ivory,  were 
brought  here  to  be  imported  into  Egypt.  Even  the  names  of  the  two 
places  at  the  frontier,  ‘Abu  (Elephantine)  and  Suenet  (Syene),  which 

1 See  my  revision  of  this  inscription,  A.  7..,  1882,  p.  159  ff. 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


499 


signify  ivory  island  and  commerce , bear  witness  to  the  importance  of  this 
ancient  trade.1 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Egypt  exercised  a certain  supremacy  over 
those  tribes  living  next  to  her  frontier.  Even  under  King  Pepy,  the 
negro  countries  of  ’Ert'et,  Med'a,  ’Emam,  Uauat,  Kaau  (?),  and  Tat'e'am 
were  obliged  to  reinforce  the  Egyptian  army  with  mercenaries.  Under 
Merenre',  also  the  successor  of  Pepy,  the  princes  of  the  countries  ’Ert'et, 
Uauat,  ’Emam,  and  Med'a  brought  supplies  of  acacia  wood  to  Elephantine 
for  Egyptian  shipbuilding.  On  the  other  hand,  the  same  inscription 
which  gives  us  this  account,  expressly  emphasises  the  fact  as  really 
extraordinary  that  a large  expedition  sent  by  Merenre4  to  the  quarries  of 
Svene  was  escorted  by  one  warship  only — the  Egyptians  evidently  did 
not  feel  quite  safe  from  attacks  at  the  frontier.'  Moreover,  Elephantine 
itself  was  originally  in  the  possession  of  Nubian  princes,  though  even  in  early 
times  they  naturalised  themselves  as  Egyptian  officials  and  vassals  of  the 
Pharaohs  ; the  most  ancient  of  their  tombs,  belonging  perhaps  to  the  6th 
dynasty,  shows  that  the  governor  of  that  time  was  a dark  brown  Nubian, 
though  his  court  seems  to  have  been  purely  Egyptian. 

The  mighty  kings  of  the  I 2th  dynasty  penetrated  farther  into  Nubia, 
and  completely  opened  out  the  northern  part  of  that  country  to  Egyptian 
civilisation.  Usertsen  I.  subjected  the  south  as  far  as  the  “ ends  of  the 
earth,”  doubtless  with  the  principal  object  of  gaining  access  to  the  gold 
mines  of  the  Nubian  desert  ; and  under  his  reign  we  hear  for  the  first  time 
of  the  “ miserable  Cush,”  i.e.  of  the  southern  part  of  Nubia.3  Nevertheless, 
it  was  only  the  northernmost  part  of  his  conquest,  the  country  of  Uauat, 
that  he  was  able  to  retain  and  to  colonise,  or  as  the  Egyptians  said,  to 
provide  with  monuments  ;*  his  great-grandson,  Usertsen  III.,  was  the  first 
to  achieve  more.  The  latter  extended  his  “ southern  frontier  ” as  far  as  the 
modern  Semneh,  and  boasted  that  “ he  had  pushed  forward  his  boundaries 
further  than  those  of  his  fathers,  and  had  added  an  increase  to  that  which 
he  had  inherited.”  J In  the  eighth  year  of  his  reign  he  established  the 
frontier  stone  there,  “ so  that  no  negro  might  pass  it,  neither  by  water  nor 
by  land,  neither  with  boats  nor  with  herds  of  the  negro.”  Those  negroes 
only  who  came  as  ambassadors,  and  those  who  were  travelling  to  the 
market  of  ’Eqen  (this  must  have  been  the  frontier  station)  were  excepted, 
and  free  passage  was  allowed  to  them,  though  not  on  their  own  boats.6 

\\  hilst  the  king  was  thus  arranging  for  peaceful  frontier  relations,  his 
sovereignty  over  this  part  of  the  country  was  again  threatened.  Eight 

1 Sunt  is  evidently  identical  with  the  word  used  in  direct  reference  to  this  frontier  trade  (L.  D., 
ii.  136  i)  sunt,  which  still  exists  in  the  Coptic  as  <rovev,  value. 

2 A.  Z.,  1S82,  pp.  12,  25.  3 L.  D.,  ii.  122. 

/WWVN 

4 O L -f  Thus  L.  D.,  ii.  123  e,  ib.  151c  (named  after  Usertsen  III.).  Under  the 

New  Empire,  in  the  inscriptions  mentioned  below  from  the  tomb  of  Huv.  It  is  probable  that  the 
word  is  identical  with  0 0 0,  but  this  is  not  certain,  owing  to  the  constant  variations  in 

the  way  the  word  is  written.  5 L.  D.,  136  h. 

6 L.  D. , ii.  136  i ; hrt  is  the  word  for  desert-travelling. 


500 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


years  later  the  Pharaoh  was  obliged  to  take  the  field,  and  the  solemn  way  in 
which,  on  the  newly-erected  frontier  stones,  he  proclaims  his  triumph  to 
posterity,  shows  sufficiently  that  he  was  himself  conscious  that  it  was  only 
now  with  his  second  victory  that  he  really  sealed  his  conquest.  He 
conjures  his  successors  in  the  most  impressive  way  not  to  let  slip  his 
conquered  possessions.  He  says  : “ He  of  my  sons  who  shall  maintain 
this  frontier  stone  which  my  Majesty  has  erected,  he  is  in  truth  my  son,  and 
his  children  shall  be  my  children  ; he  resembles  that  son  who  protected 
his  father  ( i.e . the  Horus),  and  who  maintained  the  frontiers  of  him  who 
begat  him.  But  he  who  lets  the  stone  be  destroyed,  and  will  not  fight 
for  it,  he  is  not  my  son,  and  his  children  have  no  part  in  me.”  1 The 
colony  which  he  established  at  this  frontier  was  not  only  provided 
with  a fortress  but  also  with  a temple,  and  it  is  a sign  of  his  wise  policy 
that  this  king  dedicated  the  latter  in  the  first  place  to  Dedun,  a Nubian 
god,  and  only  in  the  second  place  to  Chnum  the  Egyptian  god.  During 
the  few  next  generations  the  new  Egyptian  province  remained  intact,  and 
the  successors  of  the  conqueror  were  able  to  mark  the  height  of  the  Nile 
during  the  inundation  on  the  rocks  of  Semneh,  the  frontier  of  their 
kingdom.-  They  even  penetrated  further  to  the  south,  and  a King 
Sebekhotep  of  the  I 3th  dynasty  erected  a statue  to  himself  on  the  island 
of  Argo,  more  than  360  miles  to  the  south  of  Egypt.3 

During  the  troublous  times  of  the  Hyksos  rule,  Nubia  was  apparently 
lost  to  Egypt,  for  the  first  two  kings  of  the  New  Empire  seem  to  have 
been  obliged  to  fight  close  to  the  Egyptian  frontier.  Thothmes  I.,  how- 
ever, carried  his  arms  nearly  as  far  as  King  Sebekhotep  had  previously,  and 
one  of  his  immediate  successors  conquered  Napata  (the  present  Gebel 
Barkal),  540  miles  up  the  Nile  from  Syene.  From  this  time  Nubia,  or, 
as  it  was  called  in  Egyptian,  Cush,  remained  for  500  years  under  Egyptian 
rule,  and  though  meanwhile  there  were  some  petty  wars  in  that  country, 
yet  these  really  consisted  merely  of  skirmishes  with  the  desert  Beduins, 
or  fights  with  the  frontier  tribes  of  the  south  ; the  whole  of  the  long 
valley  from  Syene  to  beyond  Gebel  Barkal  was  in  the  undisputed 
possession  of  the  Pharaohs.  At  the  same  time  Nubia  never  became  an 
integral  part  of  the  Egyptian  kingdom,  it  was  always  governed  by  viceroys, 
who  bore  the  titles  of  the  “ royal  son  of  Ethiopia,”  and  “ the  superintendent 
of  the  southern  countries  ” (or  “ of  the  gold  countries  ”).  This  surprises 
us  the  less  when  we  remember  that  the  new  subjects  of  the  Pharaoh  really 
possessed  no  civilisation  of  their  own. 

The  southernmost  tribes,  the  subjection  of  whom  is  pictured  in  the 
battle  scenes,  are  represented  by  the  Egyptian  artists  as  barbarians, 
almost  nude,  and  with  long  angular  limbs  very  much  like  monkeys. 
Originally  the  northern  tribes  scarcely  possessed  a higher  status  ; they  soon 
gained,  however,  an  outward  civilisation,  at  any  rate  under  the  Egyptian 
government.  In  a picture  of  the  time  of  Thothmes  III.  most  of  the 
negroes  who  are  bringing  tribute  are  still  dressed  in  short  skirts  of  skin, 
1 L.  D.,  ii.  136  h.  2 L.  D.,  ii.  139,  151,  152.  3 L.  D.,  ii.  1 5 1 i. 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


501 


two  only  wear  Egyptian  linen  skirts  like  those  formerly  worn  in  Egypt 
by  the  peasantry.1  A hundred  years  later  a complete  change  had 
taken  place  in  this  respect,  as  we  see  by  the  representation  bequeathed 
to  us  in  his  tomb  by  Huy,  the  governor  of  Ethiopia  under  King 
Tuet‘anchamun.2  It  represents  the  solemn  ceremony  when  Huy  “ came 
out  of  Ethiopia  with  this  beautiful  tribute,  the  choicest  of  all  the  southern 
countries,”  and  brought  it,  together  with  the  bearers  thereof,  the  “ great 
men  of  Ethiopia,”  to  present  to  the  king.  There  are  here  more  than  forty 
great  men  of  Nubia  (who  like  their  modern  descendants  are  partly  brown 
and  partly  black)  ; four  only  wear  the  old  skin  skirt  of  their  forefathers,  and 
even  they  have  beautified  it  with  a front  piece  of  white  material — all  the 
others  wear  Egyptian  garments,  and  indeed  of  the  most  fashionable  kind. 
Many  of  them  have  even  laid  aside  the  old  coiffure,  in  which  the  hair 


NEGRO  PRISONERS  WITH  THEIR  WIVES  AND  CHILDREN. 
They  are  being  registered  by  a scribe  (Thebes,  after  W.,  i.  272). 


stood  off  from  the  head  on  all  sides  like  a great  roof,  as  well  as  the 
ostrich  feather,  the  national  head-ornament  ; they  have  let  their  woolly 
hair  grow,  and  dressed  it,  as  far  as  possible,  in  Egyptian  fashion.  A few 
have  also  given  up  the  heavy  national  earrings  and  armlets,  and  replaced 
them  by  Egyptian  ornaments.  If  we  did  not  recognise  by  the  colour  of 
the  skin,  the  woolly  hair,  and  the  negro  features  to  which  nationality 
these  great  men  belonged,  we  might  from  their  appearance  almost  mistake 
them  for  distinguished  courtiers  of  the  Pharaoh.  One  of  these  Nubian 
ladies  is  even  driving  in  a carriage  built  exactly  after  the  pattern  of  the 
Egypto-Syrian  merkobt ; yet  strange  to  say  she  has  substituted  a team  of 
dwarf  oxen  for  the  usual  horses. 

Amongst  the  presents  that  these  great  men  are  bringing,  the  show- 
pieces are  of  particular  interest  ; the  one  in  our  illustration  represents  a 
table  covered  with  panther-skins  and  woven  material ; upon  the  table  is 
represented  a Nubian  landscape.  The  tall  conical  thatched  huts,  the 
giraffes,  the  ddm-palms  with  the  monkeys  playing  in  the  boughs — all  this 
represents  a scene,  the  like  of  which  can  still  be  seen  on  the  Upper  Nile. 

1 W.,  i.  pi.  ii.  b.  2 I..  D.,  iii.  116-118. 


502 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


This  village  evidently  belongs  to  one  of  the  brown  tribes  of  the  north,  for 
whilst  these  brown  folk  are  depicted  kneeling  adoring  the  Pharaoh,  the 
black  negroes  lie  pitiably  on  the  ground,  or  are  obliged  to  allow  their 
heads  to  be  used  as  decoration  for  the  huts. 

It  may  fairly  be  questioned  whether  in  these  show-pieces  brought  from 
Nubia  we  really  have  specimens  of  native  Nubian  art.  As  a matter  of 
fact,  both  here  and  in  other  places  1 we  find  that  the  tribes  from  the  south 
generally  brought  as  presents  to  the  Pharaoh  the  natural  products  of  their 
country,  such  as  gold — in  rings,  bars,  and  bags,— precious  stones,  ivory, 
panther-skins,  ostrich-feathers  and  ostrich-eggs,  monkeys,  panthers,  giraffes, 


SHOW-PIECE  OF  THE  NUBIAN  TRIBUTE. 

The  lower  part,  consisting  of  a table  covered  with  skins,  etc.,  is  left  out  here  (after  L. D. , iii.  118). 


dogs,  and  cattle.  At  most  we  may  regard  the  decoration  of  the  cattle, 
the  human  heads  and  hands  that  are  stuck  on  the  points  of  the  horns, 
and  perhaps  even  the  entire  landscape  that  one  of  them  bears  on  his 
head,  as  true  products  of  the  Nubian  art  industry.2  The  other  works 
of  art  carried  by  the  negro  princes  under  the  escort  of  Huy,  the  golden 
carriages,  the  pretty  ebony  furniture,  and  the  splendid  metal  vases,  are 
evidently  Nubian  only  as  far  as  the  material  is  concerned.  In  fact,  the 
texts  rarely,  if  ever,  speak  of  the  manufactures  of  those  tribes,3  whilst 
those  of  the  Syrians  are  frequently  mentioned  ; the  Egypt  of  the  New 
Empire  indeed  was  evidently  inundated  with  the  industrial  arts  of  the 
latter  people. 

The  Nubian  barbarians  were  not  content  however  with  imitating  the 
clothing  only  of  their  Egyptian  lords,  they  also  adopted  what  was  more 

1 W. , i.  pi.  ii.  b. 

2 Nevertheless  an  example  of  similar  decoration  is  also  found  in  the  case  of  a sacrificial  animal 
in  an  Egyptian  temple  (L.  D.,  iii.  94). 

3 An  exception  An.,  4,  2,  126  ( = Koller,  3,  1),  where  a ship’s  cable  or  something  similar  is 
mentioned  as  the  “ work  of  Cush.” 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


503 


important,  their  religion,  and  perhaps  also  their  language  and  writing.1 2 
When  Usertsen  III.  founded  a temple  in  his  frontier  fortress,  it  is  true 
that  he  had  the  wisdom  to  install  the  Nubian  god  Dedun  as  principal 
divinity,  but  the  worship  established  there  was  appointed  in  pure  Egyptian 
fashion,  and  the  barbarian  god  was  simply  received  into  the  Egyptian 
pantheon.  The  rulers  of  the  1 8th  dynasty  again  took  up  the  work  of 
their  great  ancestors.  At  Kumneh,  opposite  Semneh,  where  Usertsen  III. 
had  already  built  a small  temple  to  the  god  Chnum  and  to  himself," 
Thothmes  I.  and  Thothmes  II.  enlarged  the  temple,  and  the  third  king  of 
this  name  finished  it.3  The  latter  ruler  then  restored  also  the  temple  of 
Semneh,  and  on  the  proposal  of  the  governor  of  Nubia  he  re-established 
the  endowment  of  corn,  clothes,  and  cattle,  which  Usertsen  III.  had 
formerly  founded  for  the  festival  days  of  that  temple.4  Further  north  at 
Amada  he  built  a temple  to  Harmachis,5  whilst  the  governor  Nehy  caused 
a grotto  temple  to  be  excavated  at  Ellesieh  to  the  Horus  gods  of  northern 
Nubia.0  Other  buildings  were  erected  by  the  same  monarch  further  to 
the  south,  at  Sai,  at  Gebel  Doshe,  and  at  other  places.  The  custom 
introduced  by  Usertsen  III.  of  giving  to  the  barbarians  the  Pharaoh  himself 
as  the  god  of  their  country  was  followed  afterwards  by  Amenhotep  IIP, 
who  built  a temple  to  himself  at  Soleb,  and  another  to  his  consort  at 
Sedeinqa.  Under  the  18th  dynasty  the  great  Egyptian  gods  were  also 
provided  with  their  own  sanctuaries  in  Nubia — thus,  for  instance,  under 
Tuet'anchamun,  the  town  of  Napata  was  called  after  the  temple  of 
Karnak,  the  “throne  of  the  two  countries.” T Ramses  II.  was  the  first, 
however,  who  went  systematically  to  work  ; at  Abu  Simbel,  Gerf  Husen, 
Wadi  Sebu‘,  and  at  Derr,  he  excavated  immense  rock  temples  for  Amon, 
Ptah,  and  Re‘,  the  great  gods  of  Thebes,  Memphis,  and  Heliopolis.  These 
sanctuaries,  the  first  of  which  was  one  of  the  grandest  ever  created 
by  Egyptian  skill,  prove  that  at  that  time  Nubia  was  essentially  an 
Egyptian  province,  and  as  such  the  final  consecration  was  given  to  the 
country  by  providing  it  with  imitations  of  the  chief  religious  cities  of 
Egypt.  In  fact,  a few  centuries  later  and  the  miserable  Cush  of  former 
times  had  become  more  Egyptian  than  Egypt  herself,  and  maintained 
that  the  orthodoxy  of  her  religion  was  even  purer  than  that  of  the  home 
of  her  gods,  which  was  distracted  by  Semitic  and  Libyan  influences. 

The  further  this  Egyptian  influence  spread,  the  more  the  administration 
of  Nubia  lost  its  individual  character,  though  she  retained  her  viceroyalty 
— which  was  administered  as  formerly  by  a virtually  independent  8 “royal 
son  of  Ethiopia.”9  At  various  times  we  obtain  a glimpse  into  the  working 

1 It  is  doubtful  at  what  period  the  Egyptian  became  the  written  language  of  Nubia,  whether 
under  the  New  Empire  or  only  after  its  separation  from  Egypt. 

2 L.  D.,  ii.  136  d,  f,  g.  3 L.  D.,  iii.  59  a.  4 L.  D. , iii.  55  a. 

5 L.  D.,  iii.  45  a,  c.  6 L.  I).,  iii.  46.  7 Unpublished  inscription  in  the  tomb  of  Huy. 

8 For  instance  these  governors  even  erected  temples  and  allowed  themselves  to  be  represented  in 

them  (L.  D.,  iii.  46,  47,  56,  178). 

a For  instance  towards  the  end  of  the  20th  dynasty.  Cp.  the  interesting  royal  letter  of  recom- 

mendation for  an  official  sent  to  Nubia  ; Tur.,  66-67. 


504 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


of  this  administration,  and  each  time  it  seems  to  have  assumed  a different 
form.  Towards  the  end  of  the  1 8th  dynasty  our  old  friend  Huy  was 
appointed  governor  of  Ethiopia  by  King  Tuet'anchamun.1  The  solemn 
ceremony  of  the  appointment  took  place  in  the  temple  of  Amon  at  Thebes 
(“  Amon  received  him,”  so  it  is  said),  and  the  treasurer  delivered  to  him  as 
the  symbol  of  his  rank  the  “ golden  seal-ring  of  his  office.”  His  jurisdiction 
was  to  extend  from  the  town  of  Nechen  to  the  town  of  the  “ Throne  of 
the  two  countries,”  or,  as  the  latter  was  also  called,  the  country  of  Qer,  i.e. 
from  El  Kab  to  Napata  on  Gebel  Barkal.2  Now  when  Huy  went  home 
to  his  province,  all  the  highest  officials  there  received  him,  in  particular  the 
“ deputy  governor  of  Ethiopia,”  and  the  “ superintendent  of  oxen  ” in  this 

province ; also  the  princes  „ of  the  two  Egyptian  settlements, 

“ Shining  in  truth  ” (i.e.  Soleb)  and  “ Inclosure  of  the  gods,”  as  well  as 
the  “ deputy  governor  ” of  the  latter  and  two  officiating  priests  of  that  place. 
Under  these  Egyptian  officials  however  there  still  ruled — even  in  northern 
Nubia — native  petty  princes  as  Egyptian  vassals,  though  they  may  have 
had  no  more  power  than  the  Indian  Maharajahs  of  the  present  day  under 
the  English  sovereignty.  One  of  them,  the  prince  of  M’e‘am,  must  have 
been  considered  a man  of  special  merit,  for  he  bore  the  epithet  of  the 
“ good  ruler.”  3 

A few  generations  later  we  find  the  “ royal  son  of  Cush  ” surrounded 
by  quite  a different  class  of  officials,  by  scribes , scribes  of  the  soldiers , 
scribes  of  the  granaries , etc.  ; 4 there  is  no  further  question  of  colonies 
or  monuments , but  rather  of  towns , which  are  subject  to  the  “ super- 
intendent of  the  towns  of  Cush.”  5 What  is  perhaps  still  more  significant, 
is  that  Nubia  held  her  own  court  of  justice  ; thus  the  governor  under 
Ramses  II.  styles  himself  “the  superintendent  of  the  great  house”  (i.e.  of 
the  court  of  justice,  see  pp.  87,  138)  “in  the  house  of  truth,  and  the  chief 
judge  of  northern  Nubia.”6 

An  interesting  tomb  at  Anibe,  not  far  from  Derr,  shows  us  the  state 
of  Nubia  towards  the  end  of  the  20th  dynasty.  Pennut,  the  official  who 
\vas  buried  there,  was  the  “ deputy  governor”  of  the  town  of  M’e'am.  His 
sons  had  appointments  in  the  home  government,  and  his  daughters  served 
as  singers  in  the  temples  of  the  town.  He  himself  was  a deserving  and 
loyal  official  ; he  had  reduced  the  gold  districts  of  the  Nubian  deserts  to 
a state  of  security,  and  “ had  subjected  the  negro  races  (?)  of  the  country 
of  ’Ekayte,  and  had  led  them  as  captives  before  the  Pharaoh.”  More- 
over he  had  caused  a statue  of  the  king,  half  as  large  as  life,  to  be 
erected  for  his  district,  representing  the  ruler  with  the  ancient  insignia — 
the  royal  helmet  on  his  head,  and  two  sceptres  in  his  hands.  He  had 

1 All  that  follows  is  from  the  unpublished  representations  in  the  tomb  of  this  man. 

3 By  Nechen  are  we  to  understand  the  well-known  town  of  El  Kab  in  Upper  Egypt,  or  a 

Nubian  town  of  the  same  name?  3 L.  D.,  iii.  117. 

4 L.  D.,  iii.  184  d.  5 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab. , 1169. 

6 L.  D. , iii.  174  c.  If  the  titles  are  complete  (a  break  follows)  the  court  of  justice  was  only 

appointed  for  the  northern  and  most  civilised  part  of  the  country. 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


505 


also  settled  great  gifts  of  land  on  this  statue,  as  well  as  on  two  similar 
ones  in  the  possession  of  the  priest  Amenemopet  and  the  deputy  governor 
Mery,  in  order  that  offerings  might  be  brought  to  them  to  the  end  of  time. 
The  king  honoured  him  with  a costly  present  as  a reward  for  this  excellent 
conduct  : he  sent  him  two  silver  ointment  bowls,  which  were  filled  with 
costly  Qam’ey  ointment.1  This  town  of  M’e'am,  where  everything  was 
so  very  Egyptian,  was  most  probably  (as  Brugsch  conjectures)  the 
identical  town  M’e'am  that  was  ruled  two  or  three  centuries  earlier  by 
its  own  Nubian  good  prince. 

We  see  that  in  Nubia  Egypt  really  fulfilled  a mission  and  by  degrees 
civilised  a barbarian  country.  This  is  however,  as  far  as  we  know,  the 
only  quarter  where  the  Egyptians  succeeded  in  such  an  attempt  ; the 
other  races  of  lower  civilisation,  with  whom  they  came  in  contact,  were 
either  nomadic  tribes  or  were  so  remote  from  Egypt  that  it  was  quite 
impossible  to  develop  really  close  relations.  This  was  particularly  the 
case  with  the  incense  countries  of  the  Red  Sea,  to  the  consideration  of 
which  we  now  turn. 

The  two  countries,  the  Divine  Land  and  the  country  of  Punt,J  were 
considered  of  old  by  the  Egyptians  as  the  original  source  of  incense  and 
other  precious  things.  A definite  idea,  however,  is  scarcely  to  be  attached 
to  the  name  of  either  country  ; they  were  general  terms, — terms  such  as 
are  still  created  by  commerce,  eg.  the  word  Levant  of  modern  times. 

The  Divine  Land  signified  originally  only  the  East,  where  God,  i.e.  Re‘, 
appeared  daily  ; in  common  parlance  the  term  was  applied  probably  to 
the  mountainous  desert  between  the  Nile  and  the  Red  Sea,3  the  peninsula 
of  Sinai,4  and  also  doubtless  to  the  northern  and  central  part  of  Arabia. 
Punt,  on  the  other  hand,  evidently  signified  the  more  tropical  coast  lands 
of  the  Red  Sea,  the  south  of  Arabia,  and  the  Somali  coast. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Egyptians  of  very  early  times  were  in 
communication  with  the  Divine  Land  ; there,  in  fact,  lay  the  quarries  of 
Hammamat,  and  through  that  country  the  way  led  to  the  Red  Sea,  and 
therefore  to  the  mines  of  Sinai,5  and  to  the  incense  countries.  Doubtless 
ever  since  the  time  of  Snefru,  the  “ treasurers  of  the  god,”  and  their 
subordinate  officials,'5  travelled  along  this  road,  and  indeed  in  all  prob- 
ability by  almost  the  same  route  as  is  now  taken  by  the  caravans  of  modern 
times — the  route  of  Ooser.  In  the  course  of  centuries  the  starting  and 
arrival  points  alone  seem  to  have  been  somewhat  changed.  In  the  early 


1 L.  D.,  iii.  229  ff. 

- The  name  Punt  is  not  a one-syllabled  word  (this  would  be  written  Pnt),  but  a word  of  two 
syllables  containing  the  consonants  p,  w,  n,  together  with  the  feminine  ending  t.  Nothing  is 
known  about  the  vowels  of  the  word. 

3 Cp.  A.  Z.,  1882,  205.  Also  L.  D.,  ii.  149  d;  L.  D.,  iii.  223  c,  where  Hammamat  is  ex- 
pressly stated  to  be  situate  in  the  Divine  Land.  4 L.  D.,  iii.  29  a. 

0 The  St.  Petersburg  tale  expressly  states  that  the  quarries  were  reached  by  ship  ; Dtimichen 
also,  in  his  History,  has  proved  from  the  later  religious  geography  that  such  was  the  ancient  idea. 


belong  to  this  class  : L.  D.,  ii.  115  b,  f,  m,  1 1 6 a. 


“ The  captains  / 


506 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAI>. 


ages,  and  even  in  Greek  times,  travellers  started  from  Coptos ; in  the 
Middle  Ages  from  the  neighbouring  town  of  Qus,  while  at  the  present  day 
Keneh  has  become  the  starting-point  of  these  caravans.  Further,  though 
the  sea  is  now  reached  at  the  harbour  of  Qoser,  in  Greek  times  the  white 
haven  was  the  goal  of  the  journey,  and  in  old  times  (at  any  rate  for  a 
time)  it  was  situate  in  the  Wadi  Gasus,  somewhat  to  the  north  of  Qoser, 
at  a place  called  Sauu.  The  Egyptians  built  a fortress  there  to  protect 
this  important  point  from  the  barbarians;  they  also  erected  a small  temple 
where  travellers  might  commend  themselves  to  the  protection  of  the 
mighty  protector  of  the  deserts  of  the  Divine  Land,  the  god  Min  of 
Coptos.1 

Two  remarkable  pieces  of  information  touching  events  in  the  Divine 
Land  have  come  down  to  us  from  the  time  of  the  I ith  dynasty.  Under 
the  same  King  Mentuhotep,  who  opened  a well  in  Hammamat,  or  “ bored 
for  water  in  those  mountains,  which  had  before  been  impassable  for  men,” 
and  who  thus  “ opened  out  the  way  for  travelling,” 2 the  officer  Se'anch 
went  to  Hammamat  and  provided  it  “with  all  the  green  plants  of  Upper 
Egypt.”  He  relates  further : “ I transformed  its  valleys  into  gardens  of 
herbs  and  its  heights  into  tanks  of  water,  and  provided  it  with  children 
throughout  its  whole  extent,  southwards  to  the  country  of  Ta‘au,  and 
northwards  to  the  town  of  Men‘at  Chufu.  I repaired  to  the  sea  and 
hunted  people  and  hunted  cattle,  and  I came  to  this  region  with  sixty 
full-grown  people  and  seventy  of  their  young  children  at  a single  time.”  3 
Thus  in  order  to  supply  the  newly-established  well-station  with  inhabitants, 
a raid  had  been  made  upon  the  poor  Beduins  of  the  mountains,  the 
Troglodytes  of  the  Greek  travellers. 

No  less  interesting  is  the  inscription,  belonging  to  the  time  of  the 
somewhat  later  King  Se‘anchkere‘,  which  the  “ chief  treasurer  Henu  the 
commander  in  the  desert,  the  chief  in  the  mountains,  satisfying  the 
two  Egypts,  the  much  feared  and  zealously  loved,”  has  engraved  in 
Hammamat.  It  relates  as  follows  : “His  Majesty  commissioned  me  to 
fit  out  ships  for  Punt,  in  order  to  fetch  fresh  incense  from  the  princes,  the 
chiefs  of  the  red  country,4  for  the  fear  of  him  pursues  the  barbarians. 
Behold,  as  I marched  out  of  the  town  of  Coptos  on  the  way  that  his 
Majesty  had  commanded  me,  I had  troops  from  the  south  countries 
with  me,  who  prepared  the  way  before  me,  and  subjected  all  that  were 
adversely  disposed  towards  the  king.  Thus  I marched  out  with  an  army 
of  3000  men.”  There  were  all  manner  of  artisans  also  who  followed  the 
soldiers.  The  route  of  the  journey  was  through  various  places  unknown 
to  us,  and  everything  was  so  well  arranged  that  Henu  was  able  to  give 
to  each  of  his  men  two  jugs  of  water  and  twenty  cakes  of  bread  daily. 
Furthermore,  he  dug  two  deep  wells  in  the  country  of  ’Edahet,  and  a 

1 A.  z.,  1882,  p.  203. 

2 L.  D. , iii.  140  d ; the  expression  is  taken  from  an  inscription  of  the  New  Empire. 

a L.  D. , ii.  149  g. 

4 The  “red  country”  is  any  foreign  country  in  contradistinction  to  the  “black,”  i.e.  Egypt. 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


507 


third  in  the  country  of  ’Eaheteb.  He  relates  also  : “ I reached  the  sea, 
and  I built  this  ship,  and  I equipped  it  entirely  and  prepared  a great 
sacrifice  for  it  of  calves,  oxen,  and  gazelles.  But  when  I had  returned 
from  the  sea  and  had  fulfilled  everything  that  his  Majesty  had  commanded 
me,  I brought  him  all  the  products  that  I had  found  in  the  districts  of 
the  Divine  Land.”  Henu,  not  content  with  what  he  had  already  accom- 
plished on  this  journey,  made  his  way  back  by  the  stone  quarries  of 
Hammamat,  and  “ brought  blocks  of  stone  for  colossi  and  statues  of  the 
temple.  Nothing  of  like  importance  had  taken  place  under  former  kings, 
and  never  had  the  like  been  carried  out  by  any  relative  of  the  king  that 
had  been  sent  out  since  the  time  of  God.  I,  however,”  continues 
Henu,  “ have  done  this  for  the  Majesty  of  my  lord,  because  he  loves  me 
so  much  and  because  he  has  allotted  to  me  the  first  place  in  his  palace 
before  all  the  great  men  of  this  country.  ...  I am  indeed  his  beloved 
servant  who  does  everything  that  he  commands  day  by  day.”  1 

As  we  see,  Henu  did  not  go  himself  to  Punt.  He  marched  with  his 
men  from  Coptos  to  the  Red  Sea  ; there  he  equipped  a ship,  and  assured 
to  her  a lucky  voyage  by  the  sacrifices  which  he  offered  to  the  gods. 
Unfortunately  we  learn  nothing  about  this  voyage,  though  the  fact  alone 
that  the  Egyptians  of  the  I ith  dynasty  made  voyages  to  Punt  is  of 
importance.  Were  it  not  for  this  inscription  of  Henu,  and  another  of  the 
chief-treasurer  Chentchetuer,  who  under  Amenemhet  II.  “returned  happily 
from  Punt — his  soldiers  were  with  him,  hale  and  hearty,  and  his  ships 
landed  at  Sauu,”  2 — we  might  doubt  whether  the  products  of  the  incense 
countries  did  not  make  their  way  into  the  Nile  valley  solely  by  means  of 
the  carrying  trade  of  Arabia.  These  products  had,  in  fact,  been  long 
familiar  to  the  Egyptians  ; even  under  the  Old  Empire  incense  and  myrrh 
were  necessary  requisites  for  all  religious  services,  and  we  even  meet  with 
a native  of  the  incense  countries,  the  negro  Hert’es’e,  amongst  the  servants 
of  one  of  the  sons  of  King  Chufu.3  Nevertheless  many  centuries  later  the 
country  of  Punt  was  still  considered  by  the  Egyptian  people  to  be  a semi- 
mythical  fairyland. 

The  latter  conception  is  not  without  general  interest,  for  similar  ideas 
are  found  in  all  parts  of  the  world  ; every  primitive  people  imagines  that 
the  distant  countries,  from  which  precious  things  are  brought  by  commerce, 
are  fabulous  realms  inhabited  by  wonderful  creatures.  The  primitive  man 
finds  it  difficult  to  realise  that  these  strange  rare  spices  are  the  fruit  of 
ordinary  plants,  the  cultivation  and  harvest  of  which  costs  as  much 
trouble  as  the  cultivation  and  harvest  of  his  native  fruits.  It  is  as 
incomprehensible  to  him  also  that  precious  stones  are  essentially  the  same 
as  the  pebbles  that  he  picks  up  out  of  his  fields.  How  could  they  then 
be  so  rare  and  so  valuable  ? With  his  tendency  to  love  the  marvellous, 

1 L.  D. , ii.  150  a.  For  the  correct  reading  of  the  word  uad'uer=  sea,  I am  indebted  to  a verbal 
communication  from  Golenischeff. 

2 A.  Z.,  1882,  p.  203. 

:!  L.  D.,  ii.  23.  The  coiffure  shows  that  this  negro  belonged  to  the  negroes  of  Punt. 


508 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


and  his  disinclination  to  common  sense,  man  allows  his  imagination  to 
weave  tales  about  distant  countries — tales  which  are  much  alike  in  all 
folk-lore. 

Ants  or  griffins  may  seek  for  gold  in  the  desert,  gigantic  birds  may 
collect  precious  stones  in  the  nests  they  have  built  high  up  in  the  mighty 
mountains,  while  even  ivory  cannot  possibly  be  obtained  from  the  prosaic 
elephant,  it  must  be  the  horn  of  the  noble  unicorn.  The  spices  and 
essences  must  come  from  wonderful  islands  lying  far  away  in  the  ocean  ; 
there  the  sailors  find  them  at  certain  times  lying  on  the  strand,  guarded 
only  by  spirits  or  by  snakes.  The  air  is  so  heavy  with  the  fragrance  that 
they  emit,  that  it  is  necessary  to  burn  asafoetida  and  goat’s  hair  to  counter- 
act the  excess  of  sweet  scents.1 

The  wondrous  traveller’s  tale  contained  in  a St.  Petersburg  papyrus 
of  the  Middle  Empire  shows  that  for  a long  time  the  Egyptian 
people  cherished  similar  ideas  about  the  incense  countries.  “ I was 
travelling  to  the  mines  of  the  Pharaoh,”  relates  some  treasurer,  “ and  I 
had  put  to  sea  in  a ship  which  was  150  cubits  long  and  40  cubits  broad, 
and  was  manned  by  150  of  the  choicest  Egyptian  sailors,  who  knew  both 
the  sky  and  the  earth,  and  in  whom  the  heart  was  wiser  than  that  of  a lion. 

“ They  had  said  that  the  wind  would  not  be  bad,  that,  indeed,  it 
might  be  quite  calm  ; but  when  we  were  on  the  sea  there  arose  a gale, 
and  scarcely  did  we  near  the  land  when  the  wind  rose,  and  the  waves 
became  8 cubits  high.  I alone,  I seized  a piece  of  wood  ; all  the  others 
who  were  in  the  ship  perished  without  exception.  A wave  washed  me 
on  to  an  island  after  I had  spent  three  days  alone  (in  the  sea)  with  my 
heart  together  alone.  Then  I lay  down  in  a thicket,  and  it  became  dark 
before  my  eyes  (?).  At  last  I set  out  to  seek  for  some  food  for  my  mouth. 
There  I found  figs  and  grapes,  all  manner  of  plants  and  fruits,2  all  kinds 
of  melons,  fish,  and  birds.  Nothing  was  wanting.  Then  I ate  till  I was 
satisfied  ; and  what  I had  taken  that  was  too  much  for  me,  I laid  down  for 
myself  on  the  ground.  Then  I made  a pit,  lighted  a fire,  and  offered  a 
burnt  sacrifice  to  the  gods. 

“ Suddenly  I heard  a noise  of  thunder,  which  I thought  to  be  the  roar 
of  a wave  ; the  trees  trembled  and  the  earth  shook.  I raised  my  face  and 
saw  that  it  was  a snake  approaching  ; he  was  30  cubits  in  length,  and  his 
beard  was  more  than  2 cubits  long.  His  limbs  were  inlaid  with  gold, 
and  his  colour  was  like  real  lapis-lazuli.  He  rolled  forwards  and  opened 
his  mouth  ; I threw  myself  down  before  him,  and  he  spake  : ‘ Who  has 
brought  thee  hither  ? who  has  brought  thee  hither,  little  one  ? who  has 
brought  thee  hither?  If  thou  dost  not  tell  me  immediately  who  brought 
thee  hither,  then  I will  show  thee  who  thou  art ! ’ . . . 

“ Then  he  took  me  in  his  mouth,  carried  me  to  his  lair,  and  laid  me 
down  without  doing  me  any  harm  : I remained  unhurt,  and  nothing 

1 Some  of  the  ancient  literature  treating  of  the  incense  countries  corresponds  in  a striking  way 
with  the  Egyptian  legend  which  is  related  here. 

2 In  the  original  there  are  specific  names  of  plants  and  fruits. 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


509 


happened  to  me.  Then  he  opened  his  mouth  towards  me,  I threw  myself 
down  before  him  and  he  spake  : ‘ Who  has  brought  thee  hither  ? who  has 
brought  thee  hither,  little  one?  who  has  brought  thee  to  this  island,  which 
is  situate  in  the  sea,  and  whose  shore  is  surrounded  by  the  waves  ? ’ Then 
I answered  him,  bowing  myself  before  him  with  my  arms  by  my  sides  : ‘ I 
had  by  command  of  the  Pharaoh  embarked  for  the  quarries  on  a ship  1 50 
cubits  long  and  40  cubits  broad,  that  was  manned  by  150  of  the  best 
Egyptian  sailors,  who  had  knowledge  of  both  heaven  and  earth,  and  in 
whom  the  heart  was  wiser  than  that  of  a lion.  They  emulated  each 
other  in  wisdom  of  heart,  and  in  strength  of  arm,  and  I was  indeed 
their  equal.  They  had  said  that  the  wind  would  not  be  bad,  and  that  it 
might  be  quite  calm  ; but  when  we  were  on  the  sea,  there  arose  a gale,  and 
scarcely  had  we  neared  the  land,  when  the  wind  rose  and  the  waves  became 
8 cubits  high.  I alone,  I seized  a piece  of  wood  ; all  the  others  who  were 
in  the  ship  perished  without  exception  during  those  three  days.  Here 
I am  now  at  thy  dwelling-place,  for  a wave  has  washed  me  on  to  this 
island.’ 

“ Then  he  said  to  me,  ‘ Fear  thou  not,  fear  thou  not,  little  one,  and  let 
not  thy  face  be  anxious.  For  if  thou  hast  reached  me,  then  it  is  God 
who  has  preserved  thy  life.  He  has  brought  thee  to  this  spirit-island,  where 
nothing  is  wanting,  and  which  is  plenteous  in  all  good  things.  Behold, 
thou  wilt  remain  here  one  month  after  another,  till  thou  hast  spent  four 
months  on  this  island.  Then  a ship  will  come  with  sailors  out  of  thy 
country,  and  thou  wilt  be  able  to  return  with  them  into  thy  country. 
Thou  shalt  die  in  thy  native  land.  Conversation  is  a joy,  it  helps  us  to  while 
away  sad  times  ; I will  therefore  relate  to  thee  what  is  on  this  island.  I 
live  here  with  my  brothers  and  my  children,  surrounded  by  them  ; we  are 
seventy-five  snakes  with  the  children  and  the  domestics,  and  another 
maiden.  . . d If  thou  art  strong  and  hast  a patient  spirit,  then  shalt  thou 
press  thy  children  to  thy  heart  and  embrace  thy  wife  ; thou  shalt  again 
see  thy  home,  which  is  of  all  things  the  best,  and  shalt  return  to  thy 
country  and  live  with  thy  friends.’ 

“ Then  I bowed  myself  down  and  threw  myself  on  the  ground  before 
him,  and  spake  ; ‘ I will  give  thee  this  answer  : I will  tell  the  Pharaoh  of 
thee;  I will  describe  to  him  how  great  thou  art,  and  will  cause  to  be  brought 
to  thee  the  sacred  oil  Ab , and  frankincense,  and  cassia,  and  incense,  such 
as  is  set  aside  for  the  temple  use,  and  with  which  all  the  gods  are  honoured. 
Then  I will  relate  to  him  what  I have  experienced,  and  thanks  shall  be 
rendered  to  thee  before  the  whole  country.  I will  slay  donkeys  as  offerings 
to  thee  ; I will  pluck  geese  for  thee,  and  will  cause  ships  to  be  brought  to 
thee  with  all  the  treasures  of  Egypt,  as  one  should  do  for  a god,  who  is 
favourable  to  mankind  in  a foreign  land  that  is  unknown  to  the  people.’ 

“ Then  he  laughed  at  my  speech,  because  of  what  he  thought 
of  it,  and  said  : ‘In  truth  thou  art  not  rich  in  myrrh,  for  all  that  is 
only  common  incense.  I,  however,  the  prince  of  the  land  of  Punt,  I 

1 The  end  of  this  narrative  is  very  obscure. 


5io 


LIFE  IN  AJVCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


possess  myrrh.  The  oil  heken  alone,  which  thou  shalt  cause  to  be  brought 
to  me,  is  rare  on  this  island.  But  (trouble  not  thyself  to  send  it  to  me, 
for)  as  soon  as  thou  shalt  have  departed  from  this  place,  thou  shalt  never 
see  this  island  again  : it  will  be  changed  'into  water.’ 

“ And  behold  when  the  ship  came  as  he  had  prophesied,  I climbed  up 
into  a high  tree,  in  order  to  see  who  should  be  therein.  Then  I went  to 
tell  him,  but  he  knew  it  already.  Then  he  said  to  me  : ‘ Return  home  in 
peace,  little  one  ; mayest  thou  see  thy  children  again,  and  leave  behind 
thee  a good  name  in  thy  city  ; this  is  my  desire  for  thee.’ 

“ Then  I bowed  myself  before  him  with  my  arms  by  my  sides,  and  he 
gave  me  presents  of  myrrh,  of  the  oil  heken,  of  frankincense  and  cassia, 
of  the  woods  teshcpes  and  slut  ns,  of  panther-skins  (?),  of  vierery  wood,  of 
much  common  incense,  of  elephants’  teeth,  of  greyhounds,  of  the  Guf 
monkeys  and  the  Kin  monkeys,  and  of  all  manner  of  precious  things.  I 
caused  all  to  be  taken  on  board  the  ship  that  had  arrived,  and  I thanked 
him,  whilst  I threw  myself  down  before  him.  Then  he  said  to  me : 

‘ Behold,  after  two  months  thou  shalt  arrive  in  thine  own  country,  and 
shalt  press  thy  children  to  thy  heart,  and  shalt  (sometime)  rest  safely  in 
thy  tomb.’ 

“ Then  I descended  to  the  shore  to  the  ship  and  called  the  sailors. 
And  on  the  shore  I thanked  the  lord  of  this  island  and  all  who  lived  upon 
it.  When,  after  spending  two  months  on  the  return  journey,  as  he  had 
said,  we  reached  the  residence  of  the  Pharaoh,  we  betook  ourselves  to  the 
palace.  I entered  in  to  the  Pharaoh,  and  delivered  to  him  the  presents 
which  I had  brought  home  from  that  island.  Then  he  thanked  me  before 
the  face  of  the  whole  country.”  1 

Thus  even  to  the  Egyptians  of  the  Middle  Empire  the  incense 
countries  appeared  to  be  fabulous  realms.  A few  centuries  later  and  this 
mist  of  romance  cleared  away  ; even  the  common  people  could  no  longer 
believe  the  country  of  Punt  to  be  an  island  inhabited  by  snakes,  after 
Queen  Chnemtamun  had  caused  it  to  be  represented  in  her  great  temple, 
with  its  inhabitants,  its  villages,  its  plants  and  its  animals. 

These  representations  of  the  temple  of  Der  el  Bahri  belong  to  that 
remarkable  period  when  the  Egyptians,  freed  from  the  yoke  of  years  of 
foreign  rule,  began  to  feel  themselves  a power  in  the  world.  It  was  as  if  the 
veil  which  concealed  the  world  had  fallen  from  their  eyes  ; the  Pharaohs 
carried  their  conquering  arms  as  far  as  the  Euphrates  and  the  Blue  Nile, 
and  Egypt  became  the  central  point  of  anterior  Asia  and  of  East  Africa. 
Then  the  Egyptians  called  to  mind  also  the  ancient  marvellous  countries 
of  the  Red  Sea  ; and  the  mighty  Oueen  Chnemtamun  sent  out  an  expedi- 
tion to  investigate  them."  Or,  as  it  is  expressed  in  official  Egyptian 

1 I only  know  this  singular  narrative  from  the  translation,  which  Golenischeff  the  discoverer  has 
given  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Oriental  Congress  of  Berlin.  In  the  second  narrative  of  the  storm 
I have  transposed  a sentence  which  appeared  to  me  to  be  in  a wrong  place.  It  is  much  to  be  hoped 
that  this  important  text  may  soon  be  published.  - 

- For  the  very  remarkable  pictures  representing  this  expedition,  see  Diim.  Hist.  Inschr. , ii. 
pi.  1-3,  S-i8.  (The  same  repeated  Diim.  Flotte  ; a summary  is  given'by  Mariette,  Der  el  Bahri.) 


XIX  TRAtrlC  A .XV  1 RAD  t.  51 1 

style  : “ Amon  of  Thebes,  the  lord  of  gods,”  suggested  this  thought  to 
her  “ because  he  held  this  ruler  so  dear — dearer  than  any  other  king  who 
had  ever  been  in  this  country.” 

In  one  of  the  harbours  of  the- Red  Sea  lies  -the  fleet,  which  the  soldiers 
of  her  Majesty  are  to  conduct  into  that  distant  country  ; the  stately 
vessels  are  about  65  feet  in  length,  and  they  are  provided  with  thirty- 
rowers  and  with  gigantic  sails,  which  stand  out  like  wings  beyond  both 
sides  of  the  ships.  The  great  jars,  which  contain  the  provisions,  are  being 
conveyed  on  board  by  a rowing  boat ; on  the  shore  however,  near  the 
trees  to  which  the  ships  are  tied,  a sacrifice  is  being  offered  to  the  goddess 
“ Hathor,  the  lady  of  Punt,”  that  “ she  may  send  the  wind.”  Then  the 
sails  are  hoisted  up,  the  sailors  climb  on  the  yards  to  make  fast  the  last 
ropes,  the  rowers  dip  their  long  oars  in  the  water,  and  from  the  wooden 
partitions  in  the  bows,  in  which  the  two  captains  stand,  resounds  the 
command  to  larboard.  The  ships  begin  to  move,  and  thus  “ the  royal 
soldiers  voyage  on  the  sea,  they  begin  - their  beautiful  journeyr  to  the 
Divine  Land,  and  voyage  happily  to  Punt.” 

We  do  not  learn  how  long  the  voyage  lasted  ; if  we  judge  by  the 
time  which  the  Arabs  of  to-day  take  for  their  voyages  in  the  Red  Sea, 
we  may  perhaps  conclude  that  the  fleet  spent  a month  at  sea  before  it 
sighted  the  shores  of  the  wonder-land  they  sought. 

The  aspect  of  Punt,  with  the  luxuriant  tropical  vegetation,  did  not  fail 
to  produce  its  effect  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  homely  valley  of  the 
Nile  ; but  they  seem  to  have  regarded  the  natives  as  barbarians  of  the 
lowest  type.  Close  to  the  shore,  hidden  amongst  great  trees  and  curious 
gigantic  plants,  are  the  wretched  little  villages,  consisting  of  small  semi- 
conical  huts,  built  on  piles  to  protect  them  from  the  enemy  and  from 
wild  animals,  a ladder  being  the  only  means  by  which  it  is  possible  to 
reach  the  hole  which  serves  for  a door.  Amongst  the  houses  lie  small 
short-horned  cows,  and  the  donkeys  which  the  people  of  Punt  employ  as 
beasts  of  burden  or  for  riding.  The  clothing  also  of  the  natives  bears 
witness  to  no  high  civilisation,  for  even  at  the  time  of  Queen  Chnemtamun 
the  people  of  Punt  still  wear  the  same  skirt,  plait  their  hair  into  the  same 
pigtail,  and  wear  the  same  pointed  beard  as  was  worn  in  the  incense 
countries  in  the  ancient  times  of  King  Chufu.1  More  than  a thousand 
years  had  therefore  elapsed  without  any  essential  change  having  taken 
place  in  the  costume  of  the  people  of  Punt — a lack  of  initiative  only 
possible  in  the  case  of  •primitive  nations.  The  inhabitants  of  the  village 
advance  as  suppliants  to  meet  the  Egyptians  as  they  disembark  ; the  latter 
regard  them  with  little  respect,  and  especially  make  merry  over  the  wife 
of  the  chief.  In  fact  this  lady  has  nothing  very  aesthetic  in  her  appear- 
ance, for  she  is  suffering  from  a state  of  corpulence  due  to  disease,  such 
as  is  still  common  amongst  the  women  of  the  interior  of  Africa.  The 
shape  of  her  legs,  of  her  breasts,  and  above  all  of  her  back,  is  such  as  to 
awaken  disgust,  and  her  clothing — a "wretched,  short  yellow  shirt  and  a 
1 Cp.  the  picture  cited  above,  L.’D..  ii.  23. 


512 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


thick  collar — does  not  help  to  make  her  look  more  pleasing.  This 
princess  is  so  stout  that  she  is  unable  to  walk,  and  the  artist,  who  has 
evidently  enjoyed  perpetuating  her  on  the  temple  walls  of  Der  el  Bahri, 
has  not  failed  therefore  to  represent  behind  her  husband  a donkey  with  a 
saddle,  the  “ donkey  which  carries  his  wife.” 

The  “treasures  of  the  land  of  Punt”  are  obtained  from  these 
barbarians,  the  natives  heap  up  incense  before  the  “ royal  ambassador  ” 
and  his  soldiers,  and  also  lead  forward  monkeys  and  panthers — the 
Egyptians  also  have  put  up  a table  on  the  beach,  which  is  covered 
with  things  to  rejoice  the  heart  of  a native  of  Punt,  such  as  daggers  and 
battleaxes,  and  gay  necklets.  When  the  bargains  have  been  concluded 
to  the  satisfaction  of  both  sides,  the  “ great  men  of  this  land  ” are  con- 
ducted into  the  “ tent  of  the  royal  ambassador,  who  presents  them  with 
bread,  beer,  wine,  meat,  fruits,  and  all  the  good  things  of  Egypt,  according 
to  the  command  of  the  august  court.” 

Thus  we  have  here  a true  instance  of  barter  and  exchange,  such  as 
is  still  practised  between  the  negroes  and  Europeans  ; but  the  official 
Egyptian  report  will  not  confess  to  such  a fact.  How  could  the  Pharaoh 
buy  anything  from  a barbarian  people,  he  [she] 1 “ to  whom  all  countries 
bring  their  gifts,”  that  he  by  his  favour  “ might  allow  them  to  breathe  the 
breath  of  life”?  In  the  legal  style  adopted  by  the  Egyptians  therefore, 
the  incense  that  has  been  acquired  by  trade  is  called  “ the  tribute  of  the 
princes  of  Punt,”  and  the  weapons  the  Egyptians  paid  for  it  are  charac- 
terised as  an  offering  laid  there  for  the  goddess  Hathor,  the  lady  of  Punt. 

Happily  this  official  conception  is  purely  theoretical  ; as  a matter  of 
fact  trade  goes  on  briskly ; on  the  planks  leading  to  the  ships  the 
carriers  pass  ceaselessly  to  and  fro  ; and  “ the  ships  are  laden  very  high 
with  the  treasures  of  the  land  of  Punt,  and  all  the  beautiful  plants  of  the 
Divine  Land  ; with  heaps  of  incense  ; with  great  myrrh  trees  ; with  ebony, 
together  with  pure  ivory  ; with  white  gold  from  the  country  Amu  ; with 
sweet-scented  woods  ; with  all  manner  of  incense  and  eye  pigments  ; with 
baboons,  monkeys,  and  greyhounds;  with  skins  of  the  panther  of  the  south; 
with  slaves  and  their  children  ; never  has  the  like  been  brought  to  any 
king  whatsoever  since  the  beginning  of  time.” 

A superintendent  causes  all  these  heterogeneous  articles  to  be  carefully 
piled  up  on  the  ship,  where  the  heap  reaches  nearly  as  high  as  the  lower 
yard.  The  monkeys  are  allowed,  nevertheless,  to  run  about  freely  ; during 
the  homeward  journey  they  enjoy  clambering  about  on  the  strong  sail  that 
extends  above  the  ship  ; one  however  seems  to  prefer  to  squat  by  the  side 
of  the  captain,  where  with  comical  gravity  he  repeats  his  worship’s  gestures 
of  command,  doubtless  to  the  ever-renewed  delight  of  the  sailors.  When 
“ the  soldiers  of  the  lord  of  the  two  countries  have  voyaged  home  in  peace, 
and  travelled  to  Thebes  with  joy,”  their  arrival  there  is  the  occasion  of 
quite  a triumphal  pageant.  With  green  boughs  in  their  hands,  they  enter 
the  town  in  festive  procession  and  bring  their  gifts  to  their  lady  ruler  ; 

1 The  masculine  is  used  for  Queen  Chnemtanuin. 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


5i3 


2 L 


FROM  THE  PICTURES  OF  THE  EXPEDITION  OF  QUEEN  CHNEMTAMUN. 
The  lading  of  a ship  (after  Diim.  Flotte,  pi.  2). 


514 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


gifts,  “ the  like  of  which  had  never  before  been  brought  to  any  other  king.” 
Amongst  them,  there  are  indeed  “ two  live  panthers,  which  are  to  follow  her 
majesty”;  and  what  awakens  still  greater  astonishment,  “thirty-one  growing 
incense  trees,  which  have  been  brought  over  amongst  the  treasures  of  Punt 
for  the  majesty  of  this  god,  Amon  Re‘.  No  one  has  ever  seen  the  like 
since  the  world  was  created.”  It  seems,  moreover,  that  it  was  especially 
this  latter  achievement  of  Queen  Chnemtamun  that  excited  particular 
admiration  and  emulation,  for  Thothmes  III.  also  received  from  the 
inhabitants  of  Punt  a growing  incense  tree  ; 1 and  when,  three  centuries 
later,  King  Ramses  III.  caused  his  great  ships  to  visit  the  countries  of  “the 
great  sea  of  the  reversed  water,”  2 i.e.  South  Arabia,  these  trees  were  again 
considered  to  be  a very  important  part  of  the  spoil a that  the  expedition 
brought  from  the  Divine  Land  and  from  Punt.4 

The  commerce  of  Egypt  with  the  incense  countries  scarcely  seems  to 
have  left  any  lasting  effect  on  either  side  ; a few  barbarian  names  for 
various  sorts  of  incense  made  their  way  into  the  Egyptian  language, 
and  the  curious  figure  of  the  god  Besa,  who  from  the  time  of  the  New 
Empire  was  honoured  in  Egypt  as  a protecting  genius,  probably  owed  his 
introduction  into  Egypt  to  this  trade.  The  influence  which  these  countries 
of  the  Red  Sea  exercised  on  Egypt  was  at  all  events  quite  insignificant 
compared  to  that  due  to  Palestine  and  Syria. 

A trace  of  the  intercourse  with  these  neighbouring  northern  countries 
can  be  found  even  under  the  Old  Empire  ; for  as  we  have  seen  in  the 
ninth  chapter  (p.  I 88),  even  at  this  early  age,  a kind  of  bread  was  employed 
which  had  been  borrowed  from  the  Semitic  nations.  The  story  of  Sinuhe 
(see  p.  370),  which  gives  such  an  accurate  description  of  Beduin  life, 
presupposes  the  existence  during  the  1 2th  dynasty  period  of  active 
intercourse  between  Egypt  and  Palestine.  From  this  story  we  gather 
that  Egyptian  ambassadors,  when  on  their  journeys,  often  passed  through 
the  country  of  Tenu,  and  that  it  was  usual  for  Egyptians  to  reside  with 
the  princes  of  that  land,  doubtless  on  account  of  trade.  In  fact,  we  are 
told  that  at  this  time  Egyptian  weapon-makers  travelled  into  foreign  parts 
with  their  wares;5  the  stelae  of  the  Middle  Empire  also  often  represent 
Semitic  damsels  as  the  favourite  slaves,  proving  that  at  any  rate  one  article 
of  Semitic  origin  was  highly  valued  in  Egypt." 

The  northern  countries  were  however  first  really  opened  up  under  the 
New  Empire,  through  the  conquering  expeditions  of  the  great  kings  of 
the  1 8th  dynasty.  From  the  monuments  and  writings  of  this  period,  we 

1 W.,  i.  pi.  2 a. 

2 Yum  ‘a  n mu  qd.  As  in  L.  D.,  iii.  5 a,  the  Euphrates  is  designated  as  the  uni  qd,  the  great 
sea  in  the  latter  expression  must  signify  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  as  Punt  is  expressly  named  as  the  goal 
of  the  journey,  South  Arabia  must  certainly  be  here  indicated.  Of  course,  the  assertion  of  the  king 
may  be  somewhat  exaggerated  ; it  is  not  possible  that  he  can  have  penetrated  far  into  the  Persian 
Gulf,  as  the  only  results  he  brought  back  were  incense  and  such-like  substances. 

3 Harr.,  i.  7,  7.  4 The  expedition  is  described  shortly  : Harr.,  i.  77,  8 ff. 

5 Sail.,  2,  7,  4-6  = An.,  7,  2,  6-8. 

6 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  690.697.699,  Louvre,  C.  170.  They  bear  of  course  Egyptian  names,  often 
in  fact  those  of  their  masters. 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


5 1 5 


obtain  a view  of  anterior  Asia  which  in  many  particulars  may  indeed 
be  incomplete  and  obscure,  but  which  is  of  priceless  value  for  history. 

The  country  of  Charu,  which  extended  from  the  Egyptian  frontier 
fortress  of  T'aru  to  the  town  of  ’Eupa,  was  divided  into  several  distinct  parts. 
The  southern  division,  “ the  upper  Ret'enu,”  corresponding  probably  to'  our 
Palestine,  was  divided  into  two  districts,  of  which  the  southern  was 
called  Ken'ana  (Canaan),  the  northern  ’Emur,  the  country  of  the  Amorites. 
By  “ the  lower  RePenu,”  was  understood  the  low  plain  of  Syria.  Phoenicia 
bore  the  name  of  Kcft,  while  the  inhabitants  were  called  Fenech.  The 
above-named  territories  were  split  up  into  small  feeble  townships,  which 
had  no  political  significance  as  regards  Egypt  ; but  in  northern  Syria, 
at  any  rate  for  a time,  the  Pharaohs  were  opposed  by  powerful  states, 
especially  by  the  nation  of  the  Cheta,  of  which  we  have  spoken  above 
(p.  47),  also  by  that  of  Oede  and  others.  To  the  north-east,  where  the 
Egyptians  came  across  the  Assyrian  civilisation,  the  state  of  Naharena  on 
the  Euphrates  was  usually  their  furthermost  limit.  Beyond  that  point, 
they  traded  indeed  with  Sangar,  i.e.  the  mountainous  country  between  the 
Euphrates  and  the  Tigris,  now  called  Sindjar  ; with  Assyria  itself,  how- 
ever, the  Pharaohs  never  seem  to  have  come  into  contact,  and  in  the  same 
way  Babylonia  also  appears  to  have  been  entirely  unknown  to  them. 
Even  the  Euphrates  was  never  known  to  the  Egyptians  by  any  fixed 
name  ; they  called  it  the  “water  of  Naharena,”  or,  struck  by  the  direction 
of  its  stream,  which  of  course  appeared  most  unnatural  to  the  dwellers  on 
the  Nile,  they  spoke  of  it  as  that  “reversed  water,  on  which  one  voyages 
to  the  northward  in  going  up-stream.”  1 The  names  of  places  that  have 
come  down  to  us  belonging  to  this  part  of  the  world,  and  especially  to  its 
southern  division,  may  be  counted  by  hundreds.  Most  of  them  are  quite 
unrecognisable  by  us,  though  fortunately  we  are  able  to  pick  out  some  of 
the  names  of  the  famous  cities  of  Syria.  Thus  we  read  of  Damascus  and 
Beyrout,  of  Byblos  and  of  Tyre,  “ the  city  in  the  sea  to  which  water  is 
brought  by  ship”;2  the  neighbouring  cities  of  Gaza  and  Joppa  are  also 
often  mentioned  by  the  Egyptians. 

It  would  be  very  interesting  to  know  whether  the  Egyptian  communica- 
tions extended  also  further  to  the  westward,  especially  to  the  Greek  islands, 
or  whether  the  ships  which  Ramses  II.  and  Ramses  III.  sent  out  to  sea 
to  “ bring  back  the  gifts  of  the  countries,”  3 always  coasted  along  the  Syrian 
shore  only.  We  might  almost  assume  that  the  latter  was  the  case,  for  the 
western  countries  are  always  spoken  of  in  general  terms,  such  as  “ the 
islands  of  the  sea,”  etc.  Cyprus  alone,  which  lies  close  to  countries  that 
were  well  known  to  the  Egyptians,  bears  a definite  name. 

In  the  following  chapter,  we  shall  consider  the  political  and  military 
relations  of  Egypt  with  these  northern  countries  ; in  this  place  however 
we  have  only  to  describe  the  effect  produced  on  the  two  countries  by  the 
commercial  relations  that  existed  between  them.  Under  the  New  Empire 

1 L.  D. , iii.  5 a.  It  is  not  possible  to  reproduce  the  pun  in  our  translation.  The  name  the 
“reversed  water  ” is  also  found  Harr.,  i.  77,  8.  2 See  p.  382.  3 Sail.,  3,  2,  10. 


5*6 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


a brisk  trade  sprang  up,1  and  near  the  old  frontiers  of  Egypt  there  was 
so  much  traffic  to  and  fro,  that  for  a time  at  least  it  interfered  with  the 
centre  of  gravity  of  the  country.2  As  regards  civilisation,  the  east  of 
the  Delta  was  then  as  it  is  even  now,  decidedly  behind  the  rest  of  the 
country.  Nevertheless  at  this  time  this  part  of  Egypt  stepped  into 
the  foreground  of  political  life  ; new  towns  arose,  and  for  a time  even 
the  seat  of  government  was  transferred  hither  from  the  great  city  of 
Thebes. 

The  number  of  Syrian  products  imported  into  Egypt  during  this  period 
was  immense.  If  we  were  to  judge  of  these  imports  by  the  pictures 
in  the  Egyptian  tombs  alone,3  we  should  obtain  very  false  ideas  ; these 
pictures  seem  to  imply  that  the  Egyptians  had  no  need  of  any  of  the  works 
of  these  northern  nations,  except  those  that  are  constantly  repeated  in  the 
representations — splendid  silver  and  gold  vessels,  precious  stones,  horses, 
and  a few  rare  animals  such  as  bears  and  elephants.  But  fortunately  we 
learn  the  true  state  of  things  from  the  literature  of  the  19th  and  20th 
dynasties  ; 4 and  when  we  come  to  consider  this  literature,  we  almost  feel 
inclined  to  maintain  that  really  there  was  scarcely  anything  that  the 
Egyptians  of  this  period  did  not  import  from  Syria.  This  fact  is  very 
significant,  it  implies  that  the  civilisation  of  the  Ret'enu  must  have  reached 
a very  high  standard  to  gain  such  a pre-eminence,  notwithstanding  the 
high  development  of  the  industrial  arts  in  Egypt. 

Amongst  the  imports  were  the  following  : — 

Ships:  the  t'arufe  ; 

Carriages  : the  merkabut e , together  with  their  manifold  accessories, 
and  the  ‘ agolt'e  ; 

Weapons : the  sword  hurpu  (sin),  the  lance  (?)  merhu , the  quiver 
‘ espat'e  (riDC'N*)  ; 

Sticks  : the  shabud  (02t^)  and  the  pnga  ; 

Musical  instruments  : the  lyre  ken'erieuru  (m:a),  the  flutes  uadua 
and  nar ; 

Vessels,  etc.  : the  vicnd'eqet'e  (npVJO?)  for  beer,  the  yenra  of  silver,  the 
sack,  (?)  techbusat'e  ; 

Liquids  : the  drinks  cheuaua , yenbu,  qad'auar , the  nekfet'er  of  Sangar, 
the  beer  of  Qede,  the  wine  of  Charu,  and  “ much  oil  of  the  harbour  ” ; 

Bread,  such  as  that  of  t'urut'e  (n^>D)  ; other  kinds  of  bread,  Kamhu  (n Dp), 
’Ebashtu  and  Kerashtu  ; Arupusa  bread  and  “ various  Syrian  breads  ” ; 

Incense  : qadarut'e  (nnt3p)  ; 


1 It  is  interesting  to  note  in  connection  with  the  development  of  the  trade  by  sea,  that  according 
to  An.,  4,  3,  10,  the  rich  man  there  spoken  of  possesses  his  own  ship,  to  bring  his  treasures  from  Syria. 

2 Cp.  concerning  the  frontier  trade  of  this  time,  the  following  chapter,  pp.  537,  538. 

3 L.  D.,  iii.  115,  1 16,  127  b:  W.,  i.  pi.  2 a,  b.  Ros.  Mon.  civ.,  58.  Also  an  unpublished  tomb 
at  Dra-abulnega. 

i The  foreign  products  may  often  be  recognised  by  their  foreign  names  (which  moreover  are 
not  all  of  them  Semitic)  ; there  are  however  certain  articles,  which  though  doubtless  imports  (as 
cattle,  beer,  wine),  do  not  bear  foreign  names.  The  meaning  of  the  barbarian  terms  is  as  yet 
to  a great  extent  unknown. 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


517 


Fish  : the  ’ ebary  and  the  hauana  ; 

Cattle  : horses  from  Sangar,  cows  from  ’Ersa,  bulls  (’ ebary >)  from  Cheta, 

etc.1 2 

Buildings,  etc.,  such  as  by  their  nature  could  not  be  imported,  were 
imitated.  Mekt'er  (inaio)  were  erected  as  castles,  the  temple  walls  were 
provided  with  'arte  and  t'akar,  i.e.  probably  with  battlements  and  bays  ; 
they  talked  of  buildings  called  inert  ate,  and  locked  up  prisoners  in  a 
sJutar?  and  so  on. 

We  have  seen  that  with  the  products  of  the  northern  countries,  their 
foreign  names  were  also  imported  ; and  as  it  always  happens,  when  an 
older  civilisation  is  overpowered  by  a younger  one,  a very  great  number 
of  other  words  were  also  adopted  from  the  Semitic  without  any  reasonable 
ground.  A scribe  was  called  tupar  (~ied),  a house,  bpayfe  (rva),  the  tank, 
barkate  (nail),  the  sea,  yum  (O'),  and  the  river,  necher  (?ru)  ; “ to  say  ” 
was  translated  by  ‘ anne  (Arab,  ranna),  “ to  evade  ” by  sauababa  (aaio), 
“ to  rest  ” by  sharavi  (y&V),  and  “ provision  ” by  sharmate,  showing  that  at 
this  time  the  Egyptian  language  reinforced  itself  considerably  with  Semitic 
words,  in  the  same  way  as  a thousand  years  later  with  Greek  ones.  On 
the  other  hand,  we  cannot  deny  that  in  these  old  times  it  was  chiefly 
the  educated  classes  who  affected  these  foreign  words  in  their  talk,  for 
whilst  the  poems  and  letters  of  the  scribes  are  crowded  with  foreign  words, 
they  are  rarely  to  be  found  in  the  folk-lore  ; and  in  fact  in  Coptic,  which 
is  a development  from  the  language  of  the  lower  classes,  they  are,  com- 
paratively speaking,  poorly  represented. 

The  subservience  into  which  the  civilisation  of  the  New  Empire  had 
fallen,  with  regard  to  that  of  these  northern  countries,  is  also  clearly  seen  by 
the  manner  in  which  the  Egyptians  borrowed  in  the  domain  of  religion  ; 
they  admitted’  Syrian  divinities,  such  as  Ba‘al,  Astarte,  ‘Anat,  into  their 
official  religion. 

This  semiticising  of  the  Egyptian  kingdom,  if  we  may  so  express 
it,  would  scarcely  have  been  carried  so  far,  had  not  a large  immigration 
of  northern  barbarians  taken  place  after  the  close  of  the  18th  dynasty. 
This  immigration  was  indeed  started  in  the  first  place  by  the  importation 
of  slaves,  in  consequence  partly  of  the  military  expeditions  of  the  Pharaohs, 
but  chiefly  as  the  result  of  trade.  Slaves  from  Charu,  from  Canaan,  from 
Karka,  and  from  other  places,  are  frequently  mentioned  under  the  New 
Empire,  and  as  we  have  seen  in  the  sixth  chapter  (p.  105  f.),  many  of 
these  slaves  attained  positions  of  high  honour.  It  was  natural  that  they 
should  then  prefer  to  naturalise  themselves  as  Egyptians  ; they  did  this 
so  effectually  that  by  the  second  generation  all  trace  of  barbarian 
descent  seems  often  to  have  disappeared.  Who,  for  instance,  would 
suspect  that  Mery-Re‘  (beloved  of  Re),  the  weapon-bearer  of  Thothmes 

1 The  examples  given  are  taken  at  random,  chiefly  from  An.  3 and  An.  4 ; they  might  be  multi- 
plied tenfold  from  these  and  other  texts.  What  remains  is  expressed  in  known  and  unknown 
languages,  and  still  awaits  a careful  investigation. 

2 Harr.,  i.  4,  2 ; Ilarr.,  500,  8,  7 ; Amh.,  4,  3. 


5iS 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


III.,  and  his  brother,  the  priest  User-Min  (Min  is  strong),  were  the 
sons  of  a barbarian,  the  judge  Pa-’Emer’eu  (the  Amorite)  and  of  his 
wife  Karuna  ?*  1 These  two  Syrians  were  moreover  brought  up  at  the 
court  of  the  king,  for  Mery-Re‘  relates  that  “ since  his  birth  ” he  had 
been  “ honoured.” 

On  the  other  hand,  we  cannot  help  observing  that  in  spite  of  every- 
thing, the  people  of  the  Pharaohs  were  conscious 
of  possessing  a somewhat  higher  status  than  their 
northern  neighbours  ; we  find,  for  instance,  that  in 
their  art  they  always  represented  the  barbarians  in 
a semi-comical  fashion.  The  spirit  of  caricature 
is  shown  in  the  manner  in  which  Egyptian  artists 
depict  the  Syrians  bearing  tribute  ; they  are  repre- 
sented with  short  bulging  figures,  crooked  noses, 
and  pointed  beards  ; 2 their  clothing  also  is  cal- 
culated to  form  a very  marked  contrast  to  the  full 
white  dresses  of  the  Egyptians.  The  narrow  richly- 
embroidered  purple  robes  in  which  blue  and  red 
layers  alternated,  the  yellow  under-garments  with 
the  narrow  sleeves  and  tight  breeches,  evidently 

did  not  delight  the  Egyptian  eye.3 4 5  On  the  other 

A SYRIAN  OF  THE  CLOSE  OF 

the  i8th  dynasty.  The  hand,  the  Egyptians  obviously  rather  admired  the 

different  layers  of  the  dress  Qieta  and  the  nations  resembling  them,  with  their 

are  alternately  blue  and  red,  . 0 

also  the  embroidery.  The  long  plain  dresses  and  their  beardless  faces. 

L^D^ii^Tid fe'l0W  ^fter  If  for  a t*me  the  ancient  civilisation  of  Egypt 
became  subservient  to  that  of  Syria,  we  are  tempted 
to  inquire  whether  and  how  far  this  influence  was  reciprocal.  This 
question  can  only  be  answered  with  any  certainty  when  the  Syrian 
monuments  have  been  far  more  accurately  examined  than  they  have 
been  as  yet.  Many  facts  however  seem  to  indicate  conclusively  that 
the  Syrians  received  almost  as  much  as  they  gave,  and  that  in  their 
manners  and  customs  they  experienced  a strong  Egyptian  influence.0 
In  Palestine  particularly,  where  the  authority  of  the  Pharaohs  was  for 
a long  time  uncontested,  and  where  there  were  Egyptian  towns  with 
Egyptian  temples,6  we  may  expect  to  find  traces  of  this  influence.  As 

1 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1055.  Many  similar  examples. 

2 Cp.  amongst  many  similar  passages,  e.g.  L.  D.,  iii.  156,  in  which  the  prince  plucks  the 
captives  by  the  beard. 

3 The  Phoenicians  were  more  simply  dressed  (W.,  i.  pi.  2 a),  but  their  skirts  with  the  coloured 
embroidery  and  fringes  also  look  quite  un-Egyptian. 

4 Costume  of  the  Cheta : L.  D.,  iii.  154,  157,  158,  164,  165.  Somewhat  different:  ib.  196. 
Peculiar  : Ros.  Mon.  Stor.,  103,  one  has  the  head  shorn  with  the  exception  of  a pig-tail.  Cp.  also 
the  “ northern  people,”  W.,  i.  pi.  2 b,  in  long  white  garments. 

0 The  Egyptian  influence  was  doubtless  most  felt  in  Syria,  in  Phoenicia,  and  the  other  Medi- 
terranean countries  at  the  time  of  the  26th  dynasty. 

8 Thothmes  III.  built  a “monument  ” ( mnmi , the  same  word  that  is  employed  in  speaking  of  the 
older  Nubian  colonies),  in  Ret  enu  : L.  D.,  iii.  30  b,  1.  Merenptah  built  a town  in  ’Ennir  (An.,  3, 

5  Rs.).  Ramses  III.  built  a temple  to  Anion  in  Canaan  (Harr.,  i.  9,  1 fif.). 


XIX 


TRAFFIC  AND  TRADE 


5i9 


regards  the  language,  we  find  Egyptian  words  employed  ; eg.  for  box  (nan), 
for  the  lily  (;cw),  for  a measure  (pn),  for  wretched,  (|vax),  etc.  ; and  in 
these  examples  of  borrowed  words  we  find  a proof  that  the  Egyptians  did 
not  fail  to  exercise  a certain  ascendency  at  any  rate  over  those  countries 
in  their  immediate  neighbourhood. 


A HIPPOPOTAMUS  IS  SEATED  IN  A TREE,  TO  WHICH  A BIRD  IS  MOUNTING  BY  A LADDER 
(after  Leps.,  Ausw.  23). 


THE  KING  OF  THE  MICE,  STANDING  ON  HIS  BATTLE  CHARIOT,  DRAWN  BY  DOGS,  IS  BESIEGING  THE 

cats'  fortress.  Parody  of  Egyptian  battle-pictures.  (From  the  Turin  satirical  papyrus,  after 
the  restoration  by  Lepsius,  Auswahl,  PI.  23). 


CHAPTER  XX 

WAR 

EGYPT,  says  Strabo,  from  the  beginning  of  time  has  as  a rule  been  a 
peaceful  country,  for  she  not  only  suffices  for  herself,  but  she  is  also  very 
inaccessible  to  foreigners.  On  the  north  she  is  bounded  by  the  harbour- 
less shore  of  the  Egyptian  Sea,  on  the  east  and  west  by  the  Libyan 
deserts  and  the  Arabian  mountains.  To  the  south  moreover,  the  other 
side  of  her  frontier  is  occupied  by  the  Troglodytes,  the  Blemmyes,  the 
Nubians  and  Megabares  (i.e.  the  Ethiopians  above  Syene)  ; these  nomadic 
tribes  are  neither  numerous  nor  warlike,  as  they  have  been  considered  by 
earlier  writers,  who  thus  thought  of  them  because  they  often  waylaid  and 
robbed  the  unwary.  Finally,  the  Ethiopians  in  the  south,  as  far  as  Meroe, 
are  neither  numerous  nor  united  ; they  inhabit  the  long  narrow  winding 
valley  of  the  river,  which  affords  few  facilities  for  war  and  but  a scanty  live- 
lihood. That  this  state  of  affairs  exists  even  at  the  present  day,  is  proved 
by  the  fact  that  the  Romans  guard  the  country  (here)  with  three  cohorts, 
and  these  cohorts  are  not  even  complete  in  number,  and  yet  when  the 
Ethiopians  ventured  to  attack  them,  they  (only)  endangered  their  own 
country.  The  other  troops  stationed  in  Egypt  are,  comparatively 
speaking,  not  even  as  strong,  yet  the  Romans  have  not  once  been  obliged 
to  combine  their  forces,  for  the  Egyptians,  though  they  are  so  numerous, 
are  neither  warlike  themselves,  nor  are  the  nations  around. 

This  description  of  the  military  condition  of  Egypt,  which  Strabo  has 
thus  sketched  out  as  the  result  of  his  own  observation  during  the  Graeco- 
Roman  time,  is  only  too  true  of  the  Egypt  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  of  modern 
times  ; indeed,  scarcely  any  other  nation  can  be  said  to  be  so  unwarlike 
as  the  fellahin.  In  a revolt,  they  may  obtain  a momentary  triumph,  but 
at  the  first  serious  rebuff,  they  submit  in  the  most  pitiable  fashion.  In 
great  wars  they  fully  develop  but  one  quality,  swiftness  in  running  away. 
Whenever  and  wherever  an  army  of  the  Egyptian  government  has  had 
any  success  in  war,  that  army  consisted  in  great  measure  of  foreign 
mercenaries.  The  Egyptian  wars  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  carried  on  by 


CHAP.  XX 


WAR 


521 


Kurds  and  Turks  ; Mohammed  Ali  and  his  powerful  adopted  son  owed 
their  conquests  to  Albanian  troops  ; and  in  the  last  English  war  it  was  the 
negroes  who  held  their  own  so  heroically  against  the  English  at  Tell  el 
Kebir,  whilst  the  flight  of  the  fellah  regiments  was  the  most  disgraceful 
scene  that  modern  history  has  ever  recorded. 

As  far  as  we  know,  the  Egyptians  of  ancient  times  were  no  greater 
heroes  than  their  descendants,  and  this  is  in  no  way  surprising,  for 
the  natural  conditions  which  effectually  prevented  the  growth  of  the  war- 
like spirit  in  this  nation  are  common  to  all  time.  Ancient  Egypt  was 
also  encircled  by  deserts,  and  her  boundaries  were  threatened  only  by 
wretched  negroes  and  nomadic  tribes,  the  oft-mentioned  nine  bozvs.  These 
desert  tribes,  whose  attacks  consisted,  then  as  now,  in  the  stealing  of  cattle 
and  the  plundering  of  caravans,  were  the  traditional  enemies  of  Egypt  ; 
and  the  fact  that  the  kings  styled  themselves  the  “ vanquishers  of  the  nine 
bows,”  shows  plainly  how  little  real  opposition  the  Egyptians  encountered. 
It  was  impossible  that  wars  with  these  Beduins  should  make  the  nation 
mighty  in  war,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  civil  wars.  In  fact,  there 
was  nothing  whatever  in  the  countries  round  Egypt  that  could  incite  a 
nation  to  conquest,  for  neither  the  deserts  of  Nubia  nor  the  arid  land  of 
Palestine  could  appear  very  attractive  to  those  who  called  the  fertile  soil 
of  the  Nile  valley  their  own. 

Hence  it  happens  that  neither  war  nor  soldiers  played  the  same  part  in 
Egypt  of  old  as  they  do  in  the  history  of  other  ancient  nations.  Once 
only,  under  the  New  Empire,  did  Egypt  become  a military  power,  but 
this  sudden  outburst  of  a warlike  spirit  was  of  very  short  duration,  and 
ended  characteristically  by  the  barbarian  mercenaries  becoming  the  lords 
of  the  country. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  cannot  surprise  us  that  in  the  Egypt  of 
early  times  we  find  no  national  army.  Each  nome  under  the  Ancient 
Empire  had  its  own  armoury,  the  battle-house } as  well  as  its  own  militia, 
which  was  under  the  command  of  the  nomarch.  To  this  we  must  add  the 
contingent  supplied  by  the  estates  of  the  great  temples  :1  2 the  soldiers  of 
the  treasury  department ; 3 the  mercenaries  of  the  friendly  chiefs  of  northern 
Nubia,  and  other  companies,  which  altogether  might  certainly  form  a con- 
siderable number  of  troops,  but  could  scarcely  be  considered  a united 
army.  This  defect  is  clearly  recognisable  in  the  one  description  of  a great 
war  which  has  come  down  to  us  from  the  time  of  the  Old  Empire.  Under 
King  Pepy,  “ the  Asiatics  who  live  on  the  sand,”  i.e.  probably  the  Beduins 
of  the  south  of  Palestine,  had  undertaken  one  of  their  usual  predatory 
expeditions  against  the  Delta,  with  the  object  of  settling  with  their  herds 
in  the  beautiful  fertile  country  of  that  district,  as  the  Libyan  and  Semitic 
nomads  have  often  succeeded  in  doing  in  later  times.  In  this  case  they 

1 With  nomarchs  : R.  J.  H.,  84=Mar.  Mast.,  214  ff.  With  chief  judges:  L.  D.,  ii.  75.  Mar. 
Mast. , 228  ff. 

2 The  high  priest  of  Heliopolis  styles  himself  the  “commander  of  the  troops”;  Mar.  mon.div.,  iS. 

3 L.  D.,  ii.  100  b.  Mar.  Mast.,  162. 188  f. 


522 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


were  too  numerous  to  be  driven  out  by  the  usual  methods,  Pepy  therefore 
determined  to  call  together  all  the  sinews  of  war  that  were  at  his  command. 
He  commissioned  neither  nomarch  nor  treasurer  with  the  organisation 
and  direction  of  this  army,  though  these  officials  had  always  formerly  been 
styled  the  “ superintendents  of  the  soldiers  ” ; but  he  chose  Un’e,  a favourite 
chief  judge,  who  enjoyed  his  special  confidence.  Evidently  in  spite  of 
their  military  rank  the  treasurers  and  nomarchs  had  had  no  actual  experi- 
ence of  a real  war  ; they  might  have  led  the  troops  against  a rebellious 
tribe  in  Nubia  or  against  the  robber  Troglodytes  of  the  Arabian  desert, 
but  they  were  not  equal  to  an  undertaking  on  a large  scale,  and  a trust- 
worthy energetic  man  like  Un’e  was  more  adapted  for  the  work.  Un’e 
fully  justified  the  confidence  of  his  master,  as  is  seen  by  the  account  he 
himself  gives  in  his  tomb.1 

“ His  Majesty  made  war  against  the  Asiatic  Beduins  and  brought  a 
great  army  together  of  many  tens  of  thousands  from  the  whole  of  the 
south,  from  Elephantine  upwards,  and  northwards  from  the  bifurcation  (?) 
of  the  Nile,  from  the  north  country,  from  the  temple  estates  (?),  from  the 
fortress  (?),  and  from  the  interior  of  the  fortresses  (?),  from  the  negro 
countries  of  ’E’rt'et,  Med'a,  ’Emam,  Uauat,  Kaau,  and  TatVam.  His 
Majesty  sent  me  at  the  head  of  this  army.  There  stood  the  princes  ; 
there  stood  the  chief  treasurers  ; there  stood  the  nearest  friends  of  the 
palace  ; there  stood  the  governors  and  the  town-princes  of  the  south  and 
of  the  north,  the  friends  and  superintendents  of  the  gold,  the  superin- 
tendents of  the  prophets  of  the  south  and  of  the  north  country,  and  the 
superintendents  of  the  temple  property — at  the  head  of  a troop  of  the 
south  and  of  the  north  country,  of  the  towns  and  districts  over  which  they 
ruled,  and  of  the  negroes  of  those  countries.  It  was  I,  indeed,  who  led 
them,  though  my  rank  was  only  that  of  a superintendent  of  the  garden  (?) 
of  the  Pharaoh.”  2 

When  all  these  small  contingents  had  been  united  into  one  army,  a 
new  difficulty  presented  itself,  the  difficulty  of  provisioning  these  “many 
tens  of  thousands.”  The  problem  was  solved  in  a very  easy  manner  : 
“ each  one  carried  as  much  with  him  as  another  ; some  of  them  stole  the 
dough  and  the  sandals  from  the  traveller  ; some  of  them  took  the  bread 
from  each  village,  some  of  them  took  the  goats  from  everybody.”  Unfor- 
tunately we  cannot  quite  make  out  what  Un’e  thought  of  these  proceedings ; 
probably  they  rejoiced  his  heart.  After  he  had  led  the  army  on  the 
north  island  to  the  gate  of  Yhotep , and  had  once  more  reviewed  it  at  this 
place,  he  began  the  war,  which  he  thus  describes  in  poetical  fashion  : 

“ This  army  fared  happily  and  cut  to  pieces  the  country  of  the  Beduins. 

This  army  fared  happily  and  destroyed  the  country  of  the  Beduins. 

This  army  fared  happily  and  overthrew  their  castles. 


1 Inscription  of  Un’e:  A.  Z.,  1882,  12  ff. 

2 In  a preceding  chapter  (p.  87),  and  in  many  places,  I have  construed  this  title  otherwise  in  concur- 
rence with  Brugsch  ; I now  make  the  suggestion,  however,  that  the  dint  in  this  title  has  really  nothing 
to  do  with  dint,  “existing  in  front,  Nubian,”  but  simply  signifies  garden,  or  something  similar. 


XX 


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523 


This  army  fared  happily  and  cut  down  their  fig-trees  and  their  vines. 

This  army  fared  happily  and  slew  troops  there,  even  many  tens  of  thousands. 

This  army  fared  happily  and  brought  back  many  captives,  even  a great  multitude.” 

Thus  the  great  war  was  brought  to  a close  ; but  four  times  again  there 
arose  disturbances  amongst  the  Beduins,  and  each  time  Un’e  was  again 
sent  out,  “ in  order  to  march  through  the  country  of  the  Beduins  with 
these  troops.”  A war  broke  out  also  “ in  the  north  of  the  country  of  the 
Beduins,”  to  which  Un’e  “went  with  these  troops  in  ships”;  in  this  war 
also  “ he  beat  them  all  and  slew  them.” 

It  is  evident  that  the  disintegration  of  the  state,  which  ensued  towards 
the  close  of  the  Old  Empire,  could  not  be  conducive  to  the  formation  of  a 
national  army.  Under  the  I 2th  dynasty,  as  in  earlier  times,  each  nomarch 
had  his  own  small  army,  commanded  by  a “ superintendent  of  the  soldiers,” 
as  his  deputy.  As  a fact,  there  was  rarely  anything  important  for 
these  troops  to  do,  and  therefore  in  times  of  peace  this  officer  assisted 
in  the  superintendence  of  the  fields,1  whilst  the  greater  number  of  the 
men  were  probably  only  called  out  in  case  of  need.  Doubtless  they 
were  most  unwilling  to  serve,  and  when  the  “ scribe  of  the  soldiers  ” 
appeared  in  the  nome,  in  order  to  “ choose  out  fine  young  men,”  2 the  grief 
of  the  people  was  probably  as  heartrending  as  it  has  been  of  late  times, 
when  the  men  were  called  out  for  the  corvee.  As  a matter  of  fact,  the 
service  the  government  required  of  these  soldiers  was  not  as  a rule  of  a 
very  warlike  nature  ; frequently  it  might  be  to  escort  an  expedition  to 
the  mines  and  quarries  of  the  desert.3  Even  in  these  expeditions,  the 
soldiers  were  evidently  often  employed  as  workmen  to  drag  the  blocks  of 
stone  ; their  labour  was  of  course  very  inexpensive  to  the  state.  To 
quote  but  one  instance,  how  else  can  we  explain  the  fact  that  an  official 
in  charge  of  the  mines  at  Hammamat  had  2000  soldiers  4 with  him  in 
addition  to  his  stone-masons  ? it  was  impossible  that  so  many  could  be 
required  to  protect  eighty  workmen  from  the  Beduins.  Now  and  then, 
of  course,  the  troops  of  the  nomes  had  to  fight  in  earnest ; thus  Ameny, 
the  oft-mentioned  nomarch  of  Beni  Hasan  under  Usertsen  I.,  accompanied 
the  king  with  his  troops  to  Cush,  he  “ followed  his  master  as  he  voyaged 
up-stream  in  order  to  overthrow  his  enemies  amongst  the  foreign  nations  ; 
he  went  indeed  as  the  son  of  the  prince,  the  chief  treasurer,  the  great 
superintendent  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Nome  of  the  Gazelle,  as  substitute 
for  his  aged  father.  When  His  Majesty  now  returned  home  in  peace, 
after  he  had  subdued  his  enemies  in  the  miserable  land  of  Ethiopia,  he 
also  followed  him  and  took  great  care  that  none  of  his  soldiers  were  lost.” 

It  is  characteristic  of  this  war-report  that  Ameny  does  not  recount 
any  victory  won,  but  only  tells  of  tribute  raised,  i.e.  of  spoil  carried  off. 
1 hese  wars  were  in  fact  merely  predatory  expeditions,  and  even  the  great 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  127  (he  is  the  third  officer  of  the  nome,  L.  D.,  ii.  1 3 1 ). 

2 Stele,  1198,  at  Berlin,  of  the  12th  dynasty. 

3 In  particular  the  report : L.  IX,  ii.  122,  officers  at  the  mines  : L.  D.,  ii.  138  a,  149  g. 

4 L.  D.,  138  c. 


524 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


victory  gained  by  Usertsen  III.  over  the  Nubians  eighty  or  ninety  years 
later,  and  commemorated  by  him  in  a monument  at  Semneh,  was  of 
no  greater  importance,  for  thus  the  king  himself  describes  it:1  “ I have 
carried  off  their  women,  and  captured  their  men,  for  I (?)  marched  to  their 
well  ; I slew  their  oxen,  cut  down  their  corn  and  set  fire  to  it.”  Yet  this 
razzia  was  considered  such  a mighty  deed  that  the  king  considered  it 
necessary  to  swear  by  his  fathers  that  he  was  saying  the  truth  and  not 
exaggerating. 

It  stands  to  reason  that  wars  of  this  kind  were  not  calculated  to 

increase  the  valour  of  the  soldiers,  espe- 
cially when  in  the  intervals  of  peace  the 
men  were  employed  in  manual  labour. 
It  seems  that  the  kings  of  the  12th 
dynasty,  realising  that  their  troops  lacked 
efficiency,  formed  a standing  bodyguard, 
soldiers  under  the  middle  empire  which  they  employed  specially  for  the 

PERFORMING  THEIR  WAR-DANCES.  (Beni  , . , , . r s. t , • 

Hasan;  after  Ros.  m.  c.,  117.)  subjection  and  defence  of  Nubia.  these 

are  the  “ retainers  of  the  monarch,”  who  are 
often  mentioned  at  this  period  and  evidently 

We  do  not  know  much  of  the  equipment 
Empire.  The  common  soldiers  of  that  time, 
like  those  of  the  Old  Empire,  carried  a large 
bow  ; as  a badge  they  generally  wore  on 
their  heads  one  or  two  ostrich  feathers,  which 
according  to  Egyptian  ideas  signified  vic- 
tory ; 3 they  wound  a narrow  band  round  the 
upper  part  of  their  body, — this  evidently 
represented  a coat  of  mail.4  Other  companies 
of  troops  were  armed  with  a great  shield  and 
a spear,5  or  with  a small  shield,  over  which 
a skin  was  stretched,  and  a battle-axe ; 
others  again  carried  no  shield,  but  bore  a 
large  axe  and  a lance,  or  perhaps  indeed 
only  a sling.6 

It  is  a remarkable  fact  that  under  the 
Middle  Empire  the  Egyptians  took  great 
trouble  to  fortify  against  the  barbarians 
those  weak  points  which  occurred  in  the 

1 L.  D.,  ii.  136  h. 

- Shmsu  (cp.  p.  103),  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  634,  649,  699,  744.  In  the  Nubian  inscriptions,  L.  D. , 
ii.  136,  e,  g,  138  g,  144  i,  k.  Officers  jl  | of  this  corps,  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  664  ; L.  D.,  ii.  136  g, 

138  a,  g,  144  k.  Cp.  also  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  667.  3 Mar.  Abyd.,  i.  p.  49. 

4 Clearly  recognisable  in  the  accompanying  illustration,  which  is  taken  from  a picture  of  the  time 
of  the  Middle  Empire.  That  the  soldiers  of  the  Old  Empire  were  dressed  in  like  fashion  is  shown 
by  the  usual  hieroglyphs  in  the  inscriptions  of  this  period  ; the  feathers  indeed  seem  to  be  wanting, 
but  the  ends  of  the  bands  may  be  recognised  behind  the  skirt. 

6 W.,  i.  202.  6 The  three  latter  at  Beni  Hasan  : Ros.  M.  C.,  117,  118,  1 19- 


constituted  a corps  of  elite.2 
of  the  soldiers  of  the  Middle 


SOLDIER  OF  THE  MIDDLE  EMPIRE. 
(Tomb  at  Siut,  after  W.,  i.  202.) 


natural  bulwarks  of  Egypt, 


XX 


WAR 


fortress  OF  SEMNEH.  Restored  by  Chipiez.  On  the  opposite  bank  is  the  smaller  fortress  of  Kumneh. 


526 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


and  which  they  called  “the  gates  of  the  barbarians.”1  At  the  Nubian 
frontier,  where  the  fortress  of  Assuan  now  stands,  was  the  “ southern 
gate,”  which  was  sometimes  placed  under  the  “ superintendent  of  the 
South,”  2 and  sometimes  under  the  nomarch  of  Thebes.3  There  was  also 
a particularly  weak  point  in  the  east  of  the  Delta,  where  the  long  valley 
of  the  old  Land  of  Goshen,  the  present  Wadi  Tumilat,  led  straight  from 
the  heart  of  the  Delta  to  a break  in  the  chain  of  the  Bitter  Lakes.  The 
importance  of  this  place  from  a strategic  point  of  view  has  been  shown 
of  late  years  in  the  military  operations  of  the  English  in  Egypt.  Under  the 
Middle  Empire,  if  not  earlier,  a great  fortress  was  built  here,  the  “ wall  of 
the  monarch,  which  is  erected  to  keep  off  the  Asiatics  ” ; it  was  garrisoned, 
and  from  the  top  men  were  always  on  the  look-out  for  the  enemy.4 

The  ruin  of  one  of  these  fortresses  of  the  Middle  Empire  gives  us  a 
good  idea  of  the  plan  on  which  they  were  built.  Usertsen  III.  blockaded 
the  right  bank  of  the  river  at  Semneh  in  Nubia  with  a great  fortress,  of 
which  such  large  portions  still  remain,  that  in  the  restoration  here  given 
from  Chipiez,  nothing  essential  has  been  supplied  by  fancy.5  This  immense 
brick  building,  with  its  many  projecting  corners  and  its  irregular  ground- 
plan,  is  surrounded  on  the  outside  by  a wall.  Chipiez  has  explained  in 
the  most  interesting  way  the  curious  change  of  direction  in  the  line  of  the 
slope  of  the  outer  wall  ; the  object  was  to  render  the  planting  of  scaling 
ladders  more  difficult.  To  reach  the  parapet  of  a wall  built  with  this 
change  of  angle,  it  is  necessary  to  have  much  longer  ladders  than  for  a 
perpendicular  wall  of  the  same  height.  In  a tomb  at  Beni  Hasan  there  is 
also  a representation  of  a fortress  of  the  Middle  Empire,  with  a similar 
change  of  angle  in  the  wall.  On  one  of  the  walls  of  this  fortress  may  be 
seen  a tower  that  is  only  about  I 5 ft.  high,  and  that  has  two  closed  doors 
at  the  foot.  It  is  interesting  that  in  this  representation  we  have  also  a 
scene  of  the  siege  of  the  fortress.  The  besiegers  advance  under  cover  of  a 
penthouse,  they  are  driving  a long  battering-ram  against  the  wall,  and 
are  sending  a storm  of  arrows  against  the  defenders.  The  besieged  stand 
protected  by  a parapet  about  3 feet  high,  or  they  lie  in  small  balconies 
that  project  obliquely,  so  as  to  enable  them  to  pour  down  arrows  and 
stones  on  the  enemy.6 

I have  already  remarked  that  in  contradistinction  to  other  periods  of 
Egyptian  history,  the  character  of  the  New  Empire  was  warlike.  The  army 
had  been  trained  in  the  war  against  the  Hyksos,  and  the  nobles  had  im- 
bibed a taste  for  fighting  ; the  political  conditions  also  of  the  neighbouring 
northern  countries  at  that  time  were  such  that  they  could  not  just  then 
make  any  very  serious  opposition ; consequently  the  Egyptians  began  to  act 
on  the  offensive  in  Syria.  At  the  same  time  it  was  a very  different  thing 
to  carry  on  war  with  the  civilised  Syrians  instead  of  with  the  semi-savage 

1 Br.  Wb.  Suppl.,  184;  Br.  Diet.  Geogr.,  1288  ff.  L.  D.,  ii.  113  h-k. 

3 Mar.  mon.  div.,  50.  4 Berlin  Pap.,  22  Z,  17  ff.  X.  Z.,  1876,  no. 

5 This  fortress  may  indeed  have  been  built  by  Thothmes  III. 

6 Ros.  M.  C.,  1 18.  Wilk.,  i.  242.  The  plan  of  the  buildings  in  front  is  somewhat  uncertain. 


XX 


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527 


Nubians  or  Beduins,  and  in  place  of  the  old  raids  for  the  capture  of  slaves, 
the  driving  off  of  cattle,  and  the  devastation  of  fields,  we  find  regular 
warfare.  The  science  of  strategy  was  now  studied,  and  Thothmes  III. 
tells  us  the  story  of  his  great  expedition  in  full  detail  ; for  instance,  where 
his  forefathers  would  have  used  high-flown  language  about  the  annihilation 
of  the  barbarians,  he  speaks  of  the  various  routes  that  lead  over  Mount 
Carmel.  The  tone  of  the  tomb-inscriptions  of  these  kings  seems  to  us 
most  un-Egyptian  and  strange, — they  speak  of  war,  not  as  a necessary 
evil,  but  as  the  highest  good  for  the  country.  In  the  official  reports  of 
this  period,  which  enumerate  the  military  expeditions  of  these  kings,  the 
“ first  expedition  ” is  spoken  of  before  a second  has  taken  place,1  as  if 
there  were  no  doubt  that  each  monarch  would  take  the  field  several 
times. 

Amongst  the  kings  of  the  19th  dynasty  this  view  had  become  such 
an  accepted  fact,  that  delight  in  fighting  was  considered  as  great  a virtue 
in  a ruler  as  reverence  for  Amon.  When  it  was  announced  to  the  king 
that  the  “ chiefs  of  the  tribes  of  the  Beduins  ” had  banded  themselves 
together  to  despise  the  “ laws  of  the  palace,  his  Majesty  then  rejoiced 
thereat.  For  the  good  god  exults  when  he  begins  the  fight,  he  is  joyful 
when  he  has  to  cross  the  frontier,  and  is  content  when  he  sees  blood. 
He  cuts  off  the  heads  of  his  enemies,  and  an  hour  of  fighting  gives  him 
more  delight  than  a day  of  pleasure.” 2 The  Pharaoh  in  person  now 
commanded  in  battle,  and  the  temple  pictures  continually  represent  him  in 
the  thickest  of  the  fight.  Like  his  soldiers,  he  lays  aside  all  his  clothing, 
even  to  his  girdle  and  the  front  flap  of  his  skirt  ; 3 in  a leathern  case  in 
his  chariot  he  has  his  short  darts,  which  he  hurls  against  the  enemy,  while 
from  his  great  bow  he  sends  out  arrow  after  arrow  amongst  them.  He 
even  takes  part  in  the  hand-to-hand  fight,  and  his  dagger  and  sickle-shaped 
sword  are  close  at  hand.4  In  fact,  if  we  may  trust  these  representations 
of  battle  scenes,  the  king  was  indeed  the  only  warrior  who,  with  the  reins 
of  his  horses  tied  round  his  body,  and  without  even  a chariot-driver,  broke 
through  the  ranks  of  the  enemy  ; we  may  surmise  however  that  this  was 
but  a flattering  exaggeration  on  the  part  of  the  sculptor  in  which  even 
the  poets  scarcely  ventured  to  join.5 

It  is  well  known  that  the  military  expeditions  of  the  kings  of  the  19th 
dynasty  had  no  very  great  result's.  Yet  we  must  not  therefore  conclude 
that  they  were  less  warlike  than  the  monarchs  of  the  18th  dynasty,  for 
they  had  a more  difficult  part  to  play  than  their  predecessors  ; instead  of 
the  separate  small  states  and  towns  of  Syria,  they  found  the  mighty 
kingdom  of  the  Cheta  arrayed  against  them  (cp.  pp.  47  ff,  392  ffi).  How 
the  war  was  carried  on  with  this  nation  is  well  illustrated  by  the  history 
of  one  great  battle  of  which  we  have  unusually  full  details  : this  battle  was 
fought  by  Ramses  II.  in  the  fifth  year  of  his  reign,  in  his  second  expedition 
against  the  king  of  the  Cheta. 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  65  a.  2 L.  D.,  iii.  128  a.  3 L.  D.,  iii.  127,  130  a,  b. 

4 L.  D.,  iii.  127  a,  128  a.  5 Sail.,  3,  5,  3 ff. 


528 


IFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


Both  kingdoms  had  called  out  all  their  forces  for  the  war  ; the  “ miser- 
able prince  of  the  Cheta”  had  summoned  all  his  vassals  and  confederates 
from  “ the  ends  of  the  sea,”  1 he  had  also  looked  carefully  after  his  coffers 
for  the  war,  for  he  “ had  left  no  silver  nor  gold  behind  him  in  his  country, 
he  had  despoiled  everything  in  order  to  take  all  with  him.”  2 Slowly  the 
Egyptian  army  moved  forward,  in  four  divisions  ; in  advance  came  the  king 
with  his  bodyguard  ; at  some  distance  behind  him  marched  the  first 
army , that  of  Amon  ; the  army  of  Re‘  was  to  the  westward,  that  of  Ptah 
and  that  of  Sutech  were  some  way  behind.3  Thus  without  any  opposition, 
and  without  meeting  the  Cheta,  they  reached  the  valley  of  the  Orontes  in 
North  Syria,  and  on  the  9th  Epiphi  they  pitched  the  royal  camp  to  the 
south  of  the  town  of  Kadesh.4  Early  in  the  morning  they  decamped  and 
moved  further  northwards.  “ When  now  his  Majesty  had  come  to  the 
region  south  of  the  town  of  Shabtun,  two  Beduins  came  and  said  to  his 
Majesty  : ‘ Our  brothers  who,  as  chiefs  of  the  tribe,  are  with  the  prince  of 
the  Cheta,  have  sent  us  to  his  Majesty  to  announce  that  we  wish  to  submit 
to  the  Pharaoh,  and  to  break  with  the  prince  of  the  Cheta.  The  prince  of 
the  Cheta  is  now  in  the  country  of  Charbu  to  the  north  of  Tunep,  and 
is  in  such  great  fear  of  the  Pharaoh  that  he  dare  not  move  southwards.’ 

“ But  in  that  which  these  two  Beduins  had  said  to  his  Majesty,  they 
had  lied  ; the  prince  of  the  Cheta  had  sent  them  out  to  seek  out  and 
discover  where  his  Majesty  then  was,  in  order  that  the  army  of  his 
Majesty  might  not  take  him  by  surprise.”  The  Egyptians  were  soon 
to  learn  the  truth,  for  the  large  army  of  the  enemy  lay  in  wait  in  the 
immediate  vicinity,  close  to  Kadesh.  In  fact,  “ there  came  two  spies  who 
were  in  the  service  of  his  Majesty,  and  brought  with  them  two  spies  of 
the  prince  of  the  Cheta.  They  were  led  into  the  presence  of  the  king, 
and  his  Majesty  asked  them,  ‘ Who  are  you  ? ’ When  they  had  answered 
that  they  belonged  to  the  prince  of  the  Cheta  and  had  been  sent  out  by 
him  to  seek  out  and  discover  where  his  Majesty  might  be,  then  his 
Majesty  asked  them  : ‘ Where  then  is  he,  the  prince  of  the  Cheta  ? I 
heard  that  he  was  in  the  country  of  Charbu.’  ‘ Behold,’  they  answered, 

‘ the  prince  of  the  Cheta  has  many  people  with  him,  that  he  has  victoriously 
brought  with  him  from  all  the  countries  belonging  to  the  territory  of  the 
country  of  the  Cheta,  and  of  the  country  of  Naharena,  and  of  the 
whole  Oede  country.  They  are  armed,  they  have  infantry,  and  chariots, 
and  weapons,  and  are  more  in  number  than  the  sand  of  the  sea.  Behold, 
they  are  in  fighting  order  hidden  behind  the  town  of  Kadesh.’  Then 
his  Majesty  ordered  the  princes  to  be  called  into  his  presence,  that  they 
might  hear  everything  that  these  two  spies  of  the  prince  of  the  Cheta  had 
spoken  before  the  king  ; he  then  said  to  them  : ‘ Now  ye  see  what  sort  of 
folk  the  superintendents  of  the  peasantry  and  the  chiefs  of  the  countries 
of  the  Pharaoh  are  ! They  have  stood  there  daily  and  said  to  the  Pharaoh 
that  the  prince  of  the  Cheta  remained  in  the  country  of  Charbu,  having 

1 Pap.  Raifet,  5.  2 Pap.  Raifet,  7 ff.  3 Pap.  Raifet,  9 ff. 

4 The  following  after  the  text  : L.  D.,  iii.  1 53  = ib.  iS7  = Ros.  Mon.  Stor.,  100  ft. 


XX 


WAR 


529 


fled  before  his  Majesty.  Thus  ye  came  and  said  day  by  day.  And 
now,  behold,  I have  just  heard  from  these  two  spies  of  the  prince  of  the 
Cheta,  that  the  prince  of  the  Cheta  has  come  accompanied  by  much  people, 
with  men  and  horses  in  number  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  and  is  behind 
Kadesh.  Thus  it  is  told  to  me,  and  the  superintendents  of  the  peasantry, 
and  the  chiefs  to  whom  the  country  of  the  Pharaoh  is  entrusted,  have  not 
been  able  to  give  me  this  information.’ 

“ Then  answered  the  princes  who  stood  in  the  presence  of  his  Majesty  : 
‘It  is  a great  crime  that  the  superintendents  of  the  peasantry  and  the 
chiefs  of  the  Pharaoh  have  committed,  in  that  they  have  not  shown  where 
the  prince  of  the  Cheta  lay,  though  they  brought  their  reports  daily  to  his 
Majesty.’  Then  his  Majesty  ordered  the  governor  to  summon  in  the 
greatest  haste  the  soldiers  of  his  Majesty,  who  were  marching  southwards 
from  Shabtun,  and  to  bring  them  to  his  Majesty.” 

But  it  was  already  too  late : “ Whilst  his  Majesty  sat  there  and 
spake  with  the  princes,  the  prince  of  the  Cheta  had  advanced  with  his 
infantry  and  his  chariot  force,  as  well  as  with  much  people  who  accom- 
panied him,  and  had  crossed  the  canal  of  Kadesh  on  the  south  side.  They 
came  into  contact  with  the  soldiers  of  his  Majesty,  who  were  marching 
along  ignorant  of  everything  ; the  infantry  and  the  chariot  force  of  his 
Majesty  were  disheartened  before  them,  as  they  advanced  northwards  to 
the  help  of  his  Majesty. 

“ Thus  the  army  of  the  prince  of  the  Cheta  surrounded  the  servants 
of  his  Majesty  who  were  with  him.  But  when  his  Majesty  saw  them,  he 
became  as  a lion  against  them,  like  the  god  Mont,  the  lord  of  Thebes. 
He  seized  his  attire  for  the  fight,  he  put  on  his  armour,  he  was  like  unto 
Ba‘al  when  he  is  angry.  Then  he  hastened  to  his  horses  and  stormed 
forwards — he  quite  alone.  Then  he  broke  through  the  ranks  of  the  army 
of  the  prince  of  the  Cheta  and  of  the  many  confederate  nations.  His 
Majesty  was  like  the  god  Sutech,  the  glorious,  when  he  cut  them  down 
and  slew  them.  His  Majesty  made  havoc  of  them  and  threw  them  one 
after  the  other  into  the  waters  of  the  Orontes.” 

“ ‘ I have  defied  all  nations  ’,”  the  Pharaoh  could  boast  ; “ when  I was 
alone,  and  my  infantry  and  my  chariot  force  had  forsaken  me  ; not  one  of 
them  stood  still  or  returned  ! I swear  however  that  as  truly  as  Re‘  loves 
me,  and  as  truly  as  Atum  rewards  me,  I myself  truly  did  all  that  I have 
said,  in  the  sight  of  my  infantry  and  of  my  chariot  force.” 

The  account  that  the  inscriptions  give  us  of  this  battle  is  confirmed 
by  the  great  series  of  pictures  on  the  pylons  of  the  funerary  temple  of 
Ramses  II.  We  see  there  how  the  two  captured  spies  of  the  prince  of  the 
Cheta  are  induced  by  a merciless  bastinado  to  betray  their  secret,  and 
how  the  king,  seated  on  “ his  golden  throne,”  after  hearing  the  fatal  news, 
wastes  his  time  by  demonstrating  to  his  princes  the  uselessness  of  his 
own  officers.1 

Next  we  see  how  the  soldiers  of  the  “ first  army  of  Amon  ” pitch  their 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  153. 

2 M 


53° 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


camp  ; 1 the  shields  are  placed  side  by  side  so  as  to  construct  a great  four- 
cornered  enclosure.  One  entrance  only  is  left,  and  this  is  fortified  with  barri- 
cades and  is  defended  by  four  divisions 
of  infantry.  In  the  middle  of  the 
camp  a large  square  space  indicates 
the  position  of  the  royal  tent  ; the 
smaller  tents  of  the  officers  surround 
it.  The  wide  space  between  these 
tents  and  the  outer  enclosure  serves 
as  a camping-ground  for  the  common 
soldiers  and  for  the  cattle,  and  here  we 
see  a series  of  life-like  scenes,  in  the 
representation  of  which  the  Egyptian 
artist  has  evidently  taken  great  delight.  In  one  corner  stand  the  rows 
of  war-chariots  ; the  horses  are  unharnessed  and  paw  the  ground  con- 
tentedly, while  they  receive  their  food.  Close  by  are  posted  the  two- 
wheeled baggage  cars  ; the  oxen  are  looking  round  at  the  food,  and  do 


CX  AND  BAGGAGE  TRUCK  IN  CAMP. 

(After  L.  D. , iii.  155. ) 


not  appear  to  trouble  themselves  about  the  king’s  big  tame  lion,  which 
has  lain  down  near  them  wearied  out.  The  most  characteristic  animal 
in  the  camp,  however,  is  the  donkey  with  his  double  panniers,  in  which 
he  has  to  carry  the  heavy  sacks  and  jars  of  provisions.  We  meet  with 
him  here,  there,  and  everywhere,  in  all  manner  of  positions  ; for  instance, 
he  drops  on  his  knee  indignantly,  as  if  he  could  carry  his  panniers  no 
longer  ; he  prances  about  when  the  soldiers  want  to  lade  him  with  the 
sacks  ; he  lies  down  and  brays,  or  he  takes  his  ease  rolling  in  the  dust 
near  his  load.  The  boys  also,  whose  business  it  is  to  fasten  up  the 
donkeys  to  pegs,  contribute  to  the  general  liveliness  of  the  camp  ; in 
more  than  one  place  they  have  begun  to  quarrel  about  their  work,  and 
in  their  anger  they  beat  each  other  with  the  pegs.  Other  boys  belonging 
to  the  camp  have  to  hang  the  baggage  on  posts,  or  to  bring  food  for  the 
soldiers,  or  to  fetch  the  skins  of  water.  These  boys  insist  upon  quarrel- 
ling too  ; the  skins  are  thrown  down,  and  they  use  their  fists  freely. 

In  contrast  to  these  scenes  of  daily  life  in  the  camp,  we  have  on  the 
other  hand  a representation  of  the  wild  confusion  of  battle."  Close  to  the 
bank  of  the  Orontes  is  the  royal  chariot,  in  which  the  king  stands  drawn 

J L.  D.,  iii.  153,  154.  2 The  following  after  the  great  pictures  : L.  D.,  iii.  157-161,  ib.  164-165. 


XX 


WAR 


53i 


up  to  his  full  height ; behind  and  on  each  side  the  chariots  of  the  Cheta 
surround  him,  while  many  more  are  crossing  the  stream.  The  Egyptian 
chariots  are  indeed  in  the  rear  of  the  king,  but  in  order  to  come  to  his 
help  they  would  have  first  to  force  a way  through  the  chariots  of  the  Cheta. 
In  the  meantime,  the  Pharaoh  fights  by  himself,  and  pours  down  such 
a frightful  rain  of  arrows  on  the  enemy  that  they  fly  in  wild  confusion. 
Hit  by  the  arrows,  their  horses  take  fright,  dash  the  chariots  to  pieces, 
and  throw  out  the  warriors,  or  they  get  loose  and  breaking  through  their 
own  ranks,  spread  confusion  everywhere.  The  dead  and  the  wounded 
Cheta  fall  one  upon  another  ; those  who  escape  the  arrows  of  the  king 
throw  themselves  into  the  Orontes  and  try  to  swim  across  to  Kadesh, 
which  is  seen  on  the  opposite  bank  surrounded  by  walls  and  trenches. 
All  do  not  succeed  in  making  their  way  through  this  confusion  of  horses 
and  men,  and  in  swimming  the  stream  ; thus  we  see  the  soldiers  pulling 
out  the  body  of  the  prince  of  Charbu  from  the  water.  Cherpaser,  the 
“ scribe  of  letters  ” of  the  prince  of  the  Cheta,  was  also  drowned  ; 
T’ergannasa  and  Pays  his  chariot  - drivers  were  shot,  as  were  also 
T’e’edura,  the  chief  of  his  bodyguard,  Kamayt'a  the  commander  of  the 
corps  of  elite,  ’Aagem,  a chief  of  the  mercenaries,  and  several  other  men 
of  rank  ; Metarema,  the  brother  of  the  prince  of  the  Cheta,  fell  before  he 
could  reach  the  stream  to  save  himself. 

Whilst  the  Pharaoh  thus  slays  the  Cheta,  the  prince  of  the  latter 
people  stands  watching  the  battle  from  the  corner  between  Kadesh  and 
the  Orontes  in  the  midst  of  a mighty  square  of  8000  foot  soldiers  of  the 
elite  of  his  troops  ; “ he  does  not  come  out  to  fight,  because  he  is  afraid 
before  his  Majesty,  since  he  has  seen  his  Majesty.”  When  he  sees  that 
the  battle  is  lost,  he  says  in  admiration  : “ He  is  as  Sutech  the  glorious, 
Ba'al  lives  in  his  body.” 

It  would  not  do  for  us,  the  sceptics  of  the  modern  world,  to  doubt  the 
fact  that  the  prince  of  the  Cheta  acknowledged  to  be  true  ; Ramses  II. 
was  no  doubt  cut  off  from  the  body  of  his  troops,  and  made  a stand 
against  an  overwhelmingly  superior  force  until  the  legion  of  Amon  came 
up  and  won  the  battle.  However  great  the  loss  might  be  however,  that 
he  inflicted  on  the  army  of  the  Cheta,  yet  the  famous  fight  of  Kadesh 
was  not  really  a decisive  victory.  The  war  was  carried  on  afterwards  for 
many  years,  and  indeed  with  varying  success,  for  we  find  the  Pharaoh 
fighting,  sometimes  in  the  country  of  the  Cheta,  and  sometimes  close  to  his 
own  frontier. 

The  incidents  recorded  in  these  later  wars  of  Ramses  II.  are  chiefly 
the  storming  of  those  great  castles,  which  seem  to  have  been  situate 
close  to  each  town  in  Syria  and  Palestine.  These  castles  have  always 
essentially  the  same  form  ; through  the  strong  gates  entrance  is  obtained 
to  the  broad  lower  story,  which  is  crowned  with  battlements  above,  and 
provided  on  each  side  with  four  widely-projecting  balconies  ; above  this 
story  is  a second  narrower  one  with  similar  balconies,  and  barred  windows. 
Several  pictures  represent  the  storming  of  these  fortresses.  For  instance, 


STORMING  OF  DAPURU,  THF.  FORTRESS  OF  THE  CHETA  (after  L.D. , iii.  166). 


CHAP.  XX 


WAR 


533 


there  is  the  “ miserable  town  of  ’Esqaruna,”  i.e.  Ascalon,  the  citadel  of 
which  is  built  on  a hill.  Its  strong  position  however  does  not  save  it  ; 
the  Egyptian  soldiery  force  their  way  through  the  enemy  to  the  walls, 
they  burst  open  the  gates  with  axes,  they  plant  mighty  scaling-ladders 
against  the  walls,  and  ascend,  with  their  shields  on  their  backs  and  their 
daggers  drawn,  to  the  first  story.  The  inhabitants,  who  with  their  wives 
and  children  have  taken  refuge  in  the  upper  floor,  seeing  their  destruction 
approach,  are  in  despair  ; some  try  to  let  down  the  women  and  children 
over  the  wall,  others  crave  the  king’s  mercy,  raising  their  hands  in 
supplication.1 * 

The  storming  by  Ramses  II.  of  Dapuru  (or  some  such  name  signifying 
the  fortress  of  the  Cheta),  which  is  represented  in  our  illustration,  was  on 
a larger  scale,  and  a more  difficult  affair.  This  fortress,  as  we  see,  deviates 
somewhat  from  the  ordinary  style  of  building.  Below,  a battlemented 
wall  surrounds  an  immense  lower  building,  which  supports  four  towers, 
the  largest  of  which  has  windows  and  balconies.  Above  the  towers  is 
seen  the  standard  of  the  town,  a great  shield  pierced  through  with  arrows. 
Outside,  on  the  field  of  battle,  the  king  fights  the  Cheta,  who  have  hastened 
to  the  relief  of  the  fortress  ; while  under  the  conduct  of  his  sons  a systematic 
attack  is  made  on  the  town.  In  order  to  protect  themselves  from  the 
shower  of  stones  and  arrows  that  the  besieged  pour  down  from  above,  the 
Egyptian  soldiers  advance  under  cover  of  pent-houses,  which  are  pushed 
forward  with  poles.  Then  ensues  the  actual  storming  of  the  castle  by 
means  of  scaling-ladders,  and  again  we  find  that  it  is  two  of  the  princes 
who,  with  almost  incredible  boldness,  are  climbing  up  the  rungs  of  the 
scaling-ladders.  Then  we  see  the  course  of  events  round  the  fortress  : 
some  of  the  besieged  let  themselves  down  over  the  wall,  more  than  one 
being  killed  in  this  attempt  to  escape  ; others  bring  tribute  to  the  victors, 
and  “ say,  whilst  they  adore  the  good  god,  ‘ Give  us  the  breath  of  life, 
thou  good  ruler  ; we  lie  under  the  soles  of  thy  feet.’  ” 

After  this  success  the  good  god  returns  home  from  the  campaign,  with 
“ very  great  booty,  the  like  of  which  had  never  been  seen  before,” ' and 
the  “ living  captives,  which  his  hand  had  spared  ” ; 3 at  the  frontier  canal, 
at  the  fortress  T'aru,  the  great  prophets  and  the  princes  of  the  south  and 
of  the  north  await  him  with  their  greeting.  The  priests  have  placed  them- 
selves on  the  right,  and  present  to  him,  as  if  they  were  presenting  an 
offering,  large  bouquets  of  flowers  ; on  the  left,  their  hands  raised  in 
supplication,  stand  the  high  officials,  with  the  bald-headed  governor  at 
their  head.  “ Welcome,”  they  say,  “ from  the  countries  that  thou  hast 
subdued  ; thy  cause  has  conquered,  and  thine  enemies  are  subject  to  thee. 
Thou  shalt  be  king  as  long  as  Re‘  rules  in  heaven,  and  shalt  renew  thy 
courage.  Thou  lord  of  the  people  of  the  nine  bows  ! Re‘  makes  fast  thy 
frontiers,  and  spreads  out  his  arms  as  a protection  behind  thee.  Thine  axe 
strikes  the  heart  of  all  countries,  and  their  princes  fall  before  thy  sword.”  4 


1 L.  D.,  iii.  145  c. 

:i  L.  D.,  iii.  1 28  a. 


2 L.  D.,  iii.  128  b. 
4 L.  D.,  iii.  128  b. 


534 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


The  common  people  also  take  part  in  these  l'ejoicings  : “the  young  people 
of  the  triumphal  town  put  on  festive  garments  every  day  and  (pour) 
pleasant  oil  on  their  heads,  on  their  new  coiffures  ; they  stand  at  their 
doors,  bouquets  in  their  hands,  Uad'et  flowers  from  the  temple  of  Hathor, 
and  Mehet  flowers  from  the  tank  ; on  the  day  when  Ramses  II.  makes  his 
entry,  the  god  of  war  of  the  two  countries,  on  the  morning  of  the 
Kaherka  festival.  Every  one  joins  with  his  neighbour  and  recites  his 
adoration.”  1 

The  facts  that  the  actual  results  of  the  war  were  small,  and  that  though 
Ramses  II.  herewith  closed  two  decades  of  the  campaign,  the  enemy  was 
yet  acknowledged  as  an  equal,  seem  not  to  have  interfered  with  this 
celebration  of  the  victory.  We  learn  that  in  the  2 1st  year,  on  the  22nd 
of  Tybi,  when  the  king  repaired  to  the  town,  the  house  of  Ramses, 
Tartesebu  and  Ramses,  the  Cheta  ambassadors,  were  conducted  into  his 
presence,  in  order  to  “ sue  for  peace  from  the  Majesty  of  Ramses,  the  bull 
of  the  princes,  who  places  his  boundaries  in  every  country  where  he  will.” 
As  a matter  of  fact  however,  they  were  merely  the  bearers  of  the  following 
document,2  concerning  the  peace  which  had  already  been  concluded,  a 
document  which  in  no  way  reads  like  an  enemy  suing  for  peace  : 

“ The  treaty,  which  Chetasar,  the  great  prince  of  the  Cheta,  the  strong, 
the  son  of  Marsar,  the  great  prince  of  the  Cheta,  the  strong,  the  grandson 
of  Saparuru,  the  great  prince  of  the  Cheta,  the  strong,  has  addressed  on  a 
silver  tablet  to  Ramses  II.,  the  great  monarch  of  Egypt,  the  strong,  the 
grandson  of  Ramses  I.,  the  great  monarch  of  Egypt,  the  strong — the 
beautiful  treaty  of  peace  and  alliance  which  gives  peace  . . . eternally. 

“ In  the  beginning  from  all  eternity,  the  relationship  between  the  great 
monarch  of  Egypt  and  the  great  prince  of  the  Cheta  was  such  that  the 
gods  did  not  allow  hostilities  to  arise  between  them,  (but  they  were)  in 
alliance.  But  in  the  time  of  my  brother  Mut'enr,  the  great  prince  of  the 
Cheta,  he  made  war  with  (Ramses  II.)  the  great  monarch  of  Egypt.  But 
now  from  the  present  time,  behold  Chetasar  the  great  prince  of  the  Cheta 
stands  in  an  alliance,  which  shall  cause  the  relationship  that  Re‘  and  Sutech 
have  made  between  the  country  of  Egypt  and  the  country  of  the  Cheta  to 
endure,  so  that  no  enmity  may  arise  between  them  for  ever.  Behold, 
Chetasar  the  great  prince  of  the  Cheta  has  allied  himself  by  a treaty  with 
Ramses  II.  the  great  monarch  of  Egypt,  that  a beautiful  peace  and  a 
beautiful  alliance  may  proceed  therefrom  between  us  for  ever,  since  he 
allies  himself  with  me  and  he  is  in  peace  with  me,  since  I ally  myself 
with  him  and  I am  in  peace  with  him. 

“ Since  the  death  of  my  brother  Mut'enr,  the  great  prince  of  the  Cheta, 
Chetasar  has  sat  on  the  throne  of  his  fathers  as  the  great  prince  of  the 
Cheta,  behold,  I together  with  Ramses  II.  the  great  monarch  of  Egypt  have 
wished  : that  (we  might  re-establish)  the  peace,  and  the  alliance  ; that 
they  may  be  better  than  the  former  peace  and  the  former  alliance  ; that 
the  relationship  (?)  between  the  great  prince  of  the  Cheta  and  Ramses  II. 


1 An.,  3,  3,  2 ff. 


2 L.  D.,  iii.  146. 


XX 


WAR 


535 


the  great  monarch  of  Egypt  may  be  a beautiful  peace  and  a beautiful 
alliance  ; that  the  children’s  children  of  the  great  prince  of  the  Cheta 
may  remain  in  a beautiful  peace  and  a beautiful  alliance  with  the 
children’s  children  of  Ramses  II.  the  great  monarch  of  Egypt,  so  that 
they  may  be  in  alliance  as  we  are,  and  in  peace  as  we  are  ; that  the  whole 
country  of  Egypt  may  be  for  ever  in  peace  and  alliance  with  the  whole 
country  of  the  Cheta  ; that  no  hostilities  may  arise  between  them  for  ever  ; 
that  the  great  prince  of  the  Cheta  may  not  ever  invade  the  country  of 
Egypt  to  carry  anything  out  of  it  ; that  Ramses  II.  may  not  ever  invade 
the  country  of  the  Cheta  to  carry  anything  out  of  it. 

“ The  treaty  of  equality  (?)  that  existed  in  the  days  of  Saparuru,  the 
great  prince  of  the  Cheta,  as  well  as  the  treaty  of  equality  (?)  that  existed 
in  the  days  of  my  father  Marsar,  the  great  prince  of  the  Cheta  : I am 
bound  by  it,  behold,  Ramses  II.  the  great  monarch  of  Egypt  is  bound 
by  it  ; we  together  from  this  day  forward,  we  are  bound  by  it,  and  we 
stand  together  in  a treaty  of  equality  (?). 

“ If  another  enemy  should  come  into  the  countries  of  Ramses  II.,  the 
great  monarch  of  Egypt,  and  if  the  latter  should  write  to  the  great  prince 
of  the  Cheta  : ‘ Come  with  me  as  reinforcement  against  him,’  then  shall  the 
great  prince  of  the  Cheta  come  to  him  as  reinforcement,  and  may  the 
great  prince  of  the  Cheta  slay  his  enemy.  But  if  the  great  prince  of  the 
Cheta  does  not  wish  to  come  (himself),  then  he  shall  send  his  infantry 
and  his  cavalry  to  slay  his  enemy. 

“When  Ramses  II.  the  great  monarch  of  Egypt  is  furious  against 
foreign  (?)  subjects,  who  have  committed  a crime  (?)  against  him,  and  he 
goes  to  slay  them,  then  shall  the  great  prince  of  the  Cheta  (assist)  him.” 

There  then  follow  the  corresponding  clauses  about  the.  help  that 
Ramses  II.  on  his  side  guarantees  to  give  to  the  prince  of  the  Cheta  in 
case  of  war.  The  treaty  next  goes  on  to  speak  of  another  point,  a most 
important  one  in  oriental  states,  the  provisions  for  the  treatment  of 
subjects  on  either  side  who  might  prefer  to  exchange  the  yoke  of  their 
own  ruler  for  that  of  his  enemy. 

“If  (inhabitants)  of  the  countries  of  Ramses  II.  the  great  monarch  of 
Egypt  (emigrate)  and  come  to  the  great  prince  of  the  Cheta,  then  shall 
the  great  prince  of  the  Cheta  refuse  to  receive  them,  but  the  great  prince 
of  the  Cheta  shall  cause  them  to  be  brought  back  to  Ramses  II.  the 
great  monarch  of  Egypt. 

“ (If  servants  have  escaped  from  Egypt,  and  it  has  been)  notified,  and 
they  come  to  the  country  of  the  Cheta,  in  order  to  take  service  with 
another,  they  shall  not  be  allowed  to  remain  in  the  country  of  the  Cheta, 
but  they  shall  be  brought  back  to  Ramses  II.  the  great  monarch  of  Egypt.” 

The  analogous  clauses  regarding  the  surrendering  by  the  Egyptians 
of  the  subjects  and  servants  of  the  prince  of  the  Cheta  close  the  treaty 
proper,  and  then  follow  the  customary  concluding  formulae,  placing  the 
compact  under  the  protection  of  the  gods.  “ A thousand  divinities  of  the 
male  divinities  and  of  the  female  divinities  of  the  gods  of  the  country  of 


536 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


the  Cheta,  together  with  a thousand  divinities  of  the  male  divinities  and  of 
the  female  divinities  of  the  country  of  Egypt,”  are  the  witnesses  of  all 
“ that  stands  on  this  silver  tablet.”  All  the  divinities  of  the  various  Cheta 
towns  that  are  named  Sutech,  those  named  Astarte  of  the  country  of  the 
Cheta  and  all  the  nameless  gods  “ of  the  mountains  and  the  streams  of 
the  country  of  the  Cheta  ” on  one  side,  and  “ Amon,  Re‘,  and  Sutech,  and 
the  male  divinities  and  the  female  divinities  of  the  mountains  and  the 
streams  of  the  country  of  Egypt”  on  the  other  side,  are  invoked  as  sureties. 
“ Whosoever  shall  not  keep  the  words  that  stand  on  this  silver  tablet 
regarding  the  country  of  the  Cheta  and  regarding  the  country  of  Egypt, 
may  the  thousand  gods  of  the  country  of  the  Cheta  and  the  thousand 
gods  of  the  country  of  Egypt  pursue  him,  his  house,  and  his  people  (?), 
and  his  servants.”  But  he  who  shall  keep  to  them,  him  shall  the  same 
gods  guard. 

Finally,  but  added  only  as  a supplement  to  the  treaty,  is  another 
proviso,  which,  though  not  of  wide-reaching  importance,  is  very  character- 
istic of  the  relations  that  had  hitherto  existed  between  the  two  great 
kingdoms.  During  the  wrar  many  of  the  Cheta  had  gone  over  to  the 
Egyptians,  and  many  Egyptians  had  gone  over  to  the  Cheta  — for 
instance,  we  meet  with  one  of  the  Cheta  named  Ramses, — these  had 
of  course  been  received  with  open  arms  by  the  enemy.  Now  after  the 
peace  the  question  arose  as  to  what  should  be  done  with  these  deserters, 
and  how  the  two  powers  could  disembarrass  themselves  of  them  in 
a fitting  manner.  The  agreement  which  they  came  to  on  the  subject 
runs  thus  : “If  men  have  fled  from  the  country  of  Egypt,  if  it  be  one 
man  or  two  men  or  three  men,  and  have  come  to  the  great  prince  of 
the  Cheta,  then  shall  the  great  prince  of  the  Cheta  take  them  into  custody 
and  cause  them  to  be  brought  back  to  Ramses  II.  the  great  monarch  of 
Egypt.  But  with  regard  to  him  who  is  brought  back  to  Ramses  II.  the 
great  monarch  of  Egypt,  his  crime  shall  not  be  brought  up  against  him, 
neither  shall  his  house  nor  his  wives  nor  his  children  be  (destroyed), 
neither  shall  his  mother  be  slain,  and  he  shall  not  be  (punished)  neither 
in  his  eyes  nor  in  his  mouth  nor  in  his  feet  ; and  no  crime  whatever  shall 
be  brought  up  against  him.”  The  same  clause  was  enacted  for  the  Cheta 
who  had  gone  over  to  the  Pharaoh. 

This  remarkable  document,  which  gives  us  a glimpse  behind  the 
scenes,  shows  us  at  the  same  time  the  true  facts  hidden  beneath  the  bom- 
bastic phrases  of  the  inscriptions,  and  marks  at  once  a new  departure  in 
Egyptian  politics — Egypt  acknowledging  the  Cheta  as  an  equal  power,  with 
whom  she  had  to  share  the  supremacy  in  Palestine.  This  friendly  relation- 
ship was  an  enduring  one  ; Ramses  II.  married  a daughter  of  the  king  of 
the  Cheta,  and  when  on  one  occasion  the  latter  came  to  Egypt  to  visit  his 
son-in-law,  the  Pharaoh  caused  him  to  be  represented  as  a prince  by  his 
side  in  the  temple  of  Abu  Simbel.  It  was  indeed  an  unheard-of  thing 
that  a barbarian  prince,  a “ miserable  chief,”  according  to  the  customary 
expression,  should  be  represented  on  a public  monument  as  the  associate 


XX 


WAR 


537 


of  the  Pharaoh  ; this  was,  as  it  were,  an  earnest  of  the  new  era  that  was 
approaching  for  Egypt.  Xot  long  after  the  death  of  Ramses  II.  the 
dominion  of  a Syrian  inaugurated  an  epoch  of  foreign  rule  in  Egypt, 
which,  with  certain  intervals  of  longer  or  shorter  duration,  has  lasted  on 
to  the  present  day.  It  therefore  sounds  rather  comical  to  us  when  in  the 
usual  way  a loyal  court-poet  interprets  the  visit  of  the  king  of  the  Cheta 
as  a sign  of  the  might  of  the  Pharaoh  : — 

“ The  great  prince  of  the  Cheta  writes  to  the  prince  of  Oede  : 

‘ Prepare  thyself,  that  we  may  hasten  to  Egypt. 

What  the  divine  spirit  says,  that  happens. 

We  wish  to  flatter  Ramses  II.,  that  he 
May  give  us  after  his  pleasure  ; 

For  ever}7  country  depends  upon  his  favour 
And  Cheta  in  ...  ; 

If  the  gods  do  not  accept  his  offering, 

Then  is  there  no  rain  to  be  seen. 

Let  us  honour  (?)  Ramses  II., 

The  bull  who  loves  valour.’  ” 1 

The  immediate  and  natural  consequence  of  these  years  of  peace  was  an 
increase  of  intercourse  between  the  two  countries  ; in  fact,  the  friendship 
of  the  Pharaoh  towards  the  prince  of  the  Cheta  went  so  far  that  he  even 
sent  to  the  latter  ships  of  corn,  when  his  country  was  suffering  from  a 
period  of  great  calamity.2  In  spite  of  these  friendly  relations,  the  north- 
east frontier  of  Egypt  was  still  carefully  guarded  by  soldiers,  for  though 
Egypt  might  now  be  in  the  peaceful  possession  of  the  south  of  Palestine, 
yet  the  latter  contained  so  many  nomadic  elements,  that,  even  under  the 
strictest  rule,  the  tribes  could  not  entirely  be  restrained  from  their  pre- 
datory habits. 

The  line  of  fortifications  which  was  intended  to  keep  back  these 
Beduins  of  the  Delta,  is  met  with  as  early  as  the  time  of  the  Middle 
Empire,  and  is  still  standing.  It  consisted  of  a wall  strengthened  by 
small  towers,  or  according  to  the  Semitic  word,  migdols  ; this  formed  an 
obstruction  which  the  slaves  who  tried  to  escape  from  Egypt,3  and  the 
Beduins  who  wanted  to  pasture  their  cattle  on  the  fields  of  the  Delta, 
found  difficult  to  pass.4  At  this  time  we  also  meet  with  a defensive  work 
of  another  kind,  namely  a broad  canal,  which  presumably  connected  the 
lakes  of  the  isthmus  together.  At  the  point  where  a bridge  crossed  this 
canal  were  strong  fortresses  on  both  sides  ; all  the  various  well-stations 
of  the  desert  route  on  the  Syrian  side  were  also  provided  with  small 
forts.0  The  great  fortress  which  defended  this  bridge  was  the  “ fortress 
of  T'aru,”  which  is  so  often  mentioned  as  the  starting-point  of  the 
military  expeditions. 

This  frontier  was  most  strictly  watched.  Captains  of  the  mercenaries 

1 An. , 4,  6,  7 ff.  The  accepted  interpretation  of  this  line  cannot  strictly  be  proved,  but  seems 
probable. 

2 Mar.  Karn.,  53,  24.  3 An.,  5,  19,  2 ff.  4 An.,  6,  4,  13  ft'. 

5 L.  D. , iii.  I28=Ros.  Mon.  Stor.,  50,  51  ; Br.  Diet.  Geo.,  645. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


with  the  divisions  under  their  command  garrisoned  the  fortresses  and  the 
wells,  and  nobody  might  pass  without  giving  his  name,  his  position  and  the 
object  of  his  journey,  and  producing  the  letters  he  bore.  For  our  know- 
ledge of  these  facts  we  are  entirely  indebted  to  the  young  scribe  Paebpasa, 
who  lived  under  Merenptah,  and  was  a pupil  of  Amenemopet,  the  chief 
charioteer.  He  seems  to  have  been  stationed  in  the  fortress  T'aru,  and  to 
have  had  to  keep  an  account  of  those  who  went  out  or  in,  and  to  inform 
the  authorities.  For  several  days  he  entered  the  necessary  information  on 
this  subject  on  the  first  piece  of  good  paper  that  he  chanced  upon,  the 
back  of  his  school  copy-book  ; and  it  is  in  this  copy-book  that  they  have 
been  preserved  to  us.1  I need  not  say  that  these  scribbles  are  of  infinitely 
more  importance  to  us  than  all  that  is  contained  on  the  other  side  of  the 
pages  of  the  copy-book  ; unfortunately  they  are  scarcely  legible  in  places. 
The  following  are  some  of  the  notes  made  by  Paebpasa  : 

“ In  the  3rd  year,  on  the  1 5th  of  Pachon. 

There  went  out  the  servant  of  Ba'al,  son  of  D'apur  of  Gaza,  who  had  two 
separate  letters  to  take  with  him  to  Syria,  (namely  to)  Cha‘y  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  peasantry,  1 letter  ; 

(to)  Ba‘al  the  prince  of  Tyre,  1 letter. 

“ In  the  3rd  year,  on  the  17th  (?)  of  Pachon. 

There  came  one  here,  from  the  well  of  Merenptah,  situate  in  the 
mountainous  country,  to  the  captain  of  the  mercenaries,  in  order  to  hold 
an  inspection  (?)  in  the  fortress,  which  is  in  T'aru. 

“ In  the  3rd  year,  on  the  . . . Pachon. 

There  ascended  hither  the  servant  Dhoute,  son  of  T'akarumu  of  Gaqaty. 
Dut’eu  the  . . .,  the  son  of  Shamba'al,  likewise. 

Sutechmes,  son  of  ‘Aperdgar,  likewise,  who  had  with  him  to  the  royal 
residence  (to)  Cha‘y,  (the)  superintendent  of  the  peasantry,  1 letter. 

“ In  the  3rd  year,  on  the  . . . Pachon. 

The  servant  Nechtamon,  son  of  T'ar,  from  the  castle  of  Merenptah,  who  is 
to  arrive  at  (?)  Dkirrum,  who  has  with  him  for  Syria  two  separate  letters  : 
(to)  Penamun,  (the)  superintendent  of  the  peasantry,  1 letter  ; 

(to)  Ramses,  (the)  estate  superintendent  of  this  town,  1 letter. 

There  ascended  the  captain  of  the  stable,  Pamerchetmu,  son  of  Any, 
from  the  town  of  Merenptah,  which  lies  in  the  nome  of  ’Emur,  who  has 
with  him  (to  the)  royal  residence  two  separate  letters  ; 

(to)  Pa  . . . mheb,2  (the)  superintendent  of  the  peasantry,  1 letter  ; 

(to)  Para'mheb,  (the)  deputy,  x letter,”  etc. 

We  see  what  a number  of  Egyptian  officials  must  have  formerly  resided 
in  Syria,  or  ascended  thither  from  the  lower-lying  country  of  Egypt ; the 
“ superintendents  of  the  peasantry,”  who  are  mentioned  here  and  in  other 
places3  as  living  in  Palestine,  had,  as  Brugsch  has  doubtless  rightly 

1 An.,  3,  4-6  R.  There  is  much  that  cannot  be  read,  especially  in  the  names. 

- The  scribe  did  not  exactly  know  what  the  name  was,  and  therefore  left  the  middle  blank.  As 
it  stands  now,  it  signifies  : the  ...  at  the  feast. 

3 L.  D.,  iii.  187  d,  24  ; cp.  also  ib.  c.  2,  and  d.  27  ; where  they  are  called  “superintendents  of 
the  countries.” 


XX 


WAR 


539 


concluded,1  the  administration  of  colonies  of  Egyptian  workmen.  We  learn 
from  our  text  that  there  belonged  also  a town  to  these  colonies,  and  perhaps 
it  may  have  been  the  same  as  that  in  which  the  court  formerly  resided. 

Whilst  the  frontiers  were  thus  carefully  watched  on  account  of  their 
own  Semitic  subjects,  the  Egyptians  were  threatened  by  a much  more 
serious  danger  from  quite  another  quarter.  This  danger  was  due  in  part 
to  the  old  enemies  of  Egypt,  such  as  the  various  tribes  of  Libyans,  with 
whom  AmenemlVet  I.  and  other  kings  had  fought  ; in  part  to  new  hostile 
neighbours,  such  as  the  Shardana,  the  Shakarusha,  the  Tarusha,  etc., 
by  which  names  the  people  were  known,  who  came  from  the  coasts  of 
the  Mediterranean  to  invade  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  It  seems  that  Sety 
I.  had  already  come  in  contact  with  them,  for  amongst  the  Egyptian 
troops,  at  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  his  son  we  meet  with  Shardana,  of 
whom  it  is  expressly  stated  that  they  had  originally  been  captives.  In 
the  meantime  these  pirate  races,  who  “ marched  fighting  through  the 
country  in  order  daily  to  fill  their  mouths,”  " and  who,  if  I rightly  under- 
stand, had  already  made  an  incursion  into  Syria  and  into  the  kingdom 
of  the  Cheta,3  took  service  with  the  Libyan  prince  Mar’eayu,  who  with  their 
help  now  undertook  a great  predatory  expedition.  They  descended  upon 
the  western  frontier  of  Egypt,  which  from  early  times  had  been  left  as 
pasture  land  to  the  Libyan  races  of  the  Tehen  ; this  part  of  the  country, 
however,  really  belonged  to  Egypt,  and,  like  Syria  and  Nubia,  had  been 
occupied  by  monuments , i.e.  colonies.4  Thence  they  penetrated  into  the 
Delta,  plundering  as  they  advanced,  and  even  threatened  Heliopolis  ; at 
the  same  time  they  also  invaded  the  oases.  The  danger  was  most  serious, 
for  these  races  were  well  armed,  and  (if  we  may  judge  from  the  number  of 
killed  and  wounded)  might  be  reckoned  by  tens  of  thousands.  The  gods, 
however,  took  Egypt  under  their  protection,  and  the  god  Ptah  appeared 
to  the  king  Merenptah  in  a dream,  and  promised  him  the  victory.  In 
fact,  after  a fight  of  six  hours,  his  troops  succeeded  in  gaining. a splendid 
victory,  a victory  so  glorious  that  Mar’eayu,  the  Libyan  prince,  did  not 
await  the  issue,  but  fled  from  the  field,  leaving  behind  his  sandals  and  his 
quiver.  The  whole  camp,  with  all  the  treasure  as  well  as  all  the  family 
of  the  prince,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Egyptians.  The  camp  was  burnt 
after  being  plundered  by  the  soldiers;  in  it  there  were  found  of  metal  vessels 
alone  3174,  while  9376  captives  completed  the  sum  of  the  spoil.  In 
order  to  prove  to  the  people  at  home  the  number  of  the  dead,  they  cut  off 
certain  portions  from  the  fallen,  e.g.  the  hands  in  the  case  of  the  Aqayuasha, 
who  practised  circumcision,5  they  then  laded  the  donkeys  with  this  booty. 
Gladly  would  they  also  have  taken  the  fugitive  Mar’eayu,  and  the  Pharaoh 
sent  officers,  “ who  were  on  horses,”  after  him  and  the  other  fugitives. 
These  mounted  officers  however  were  not  able  to  overtake  him,  and 


5 This  is  the  only  passage  front  which  we  gather  that  the  Egyptians  attached  any  importance 
to  their  custom  of  circumcision. 


2 Mar.  Karn.,  53,  22. 


:i  Mar.  Karn.,  53,  24. 


4 Mar.  Karn.,  52,  19,  54,  41. 


540 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


“ under  cover  of  night  ” he  escaped.  Notwithstanding  his  escape,  his  power 
was  completely  broken  ; he  had  not  fulfilled  the  promises  with  which  he 
had  enticed  his  people  to  the  war  ; “ all  his  words  had  turned  back  on  his 
own  head,”  and  he  “ had  become  an  enemy  to  his  own  army.”  It  was  not 
even  known,  as  the  commander  of  the  “ monuments  of  the  west  ” added  to 
this  report,  whether  indeed  he  still  lived,  and  the  people  resolved  to  set  up 
one  of  his  brothers  in  his  place.1 

Thus  for  a time  the  imminent  danger  which  threatened  Egypt  from 
the  Libyans  was  turned  aside  ; it  was  not  however  permanently  averted. 
The  next  king  of  whose  great  deeds  we  have  any  record,  Ramses  III., 
had  again  twice  to  fight  against  the  Libyans,  and  as  the  number  of  the 
bloody  trophies  above  mentioned  reached  in  one  case  the  sum  of  12,535, 
there  must  have  been  a fight  of  the  most  serious  importance.  At  this 
time  the  Libyans  had  evidently  some  pressing  need  for  enlarging  their 
borders,  for  apart  from  this  attempt  to  penetrate  into  Egypt  by  force, 
they  entered  the  service  of  the  Pharaohs  as  mercenaries  in  such  great 
numbers  that,  two  centuries  later,  they  were  able  as  the  ruling  class  to 
take  possession  of  the  Nile  country. 

In  these  later  wars,  moreover,  the  Libyans  appear  alone  on  the  scene, 
though  the  Egyptians  had  still  to  face  troubles  arising  from  those  nations 
of  the  sea  who  had  fought  with  them  in  the  time  of  Merenptah.  For 
centuries  there  was  manifestly  a continuous  movement  of  tribes  eastward, 
and  the  most  dangerous  shock  of  this  tribal  migration  seems  to  have 
been  felt  in  Egypt  under  Ramses  III.  In  addition  to  their  old  enemies 
the  Shardana,  the  T’eursha,  and  the  Shakarusha,  fresh  ones  now  appear  on 
the  scene,  namely,  the  Purasat’e,  the  T'akekar,  the  Da’en’euna,  and  the 
Uashash  ; thus  in  the  great  migrations  of  our  history  also,  one  people  has 
always  dragged  along  another.  From  the  north  they  penetrated  into  Syria, 
partly  by  land  in  carts  drawn  by  oxen,  partly  by  sea  in  their  ships,  which 
seem  to  have  been  little  inferior  to  those  of  Egypt.  The  Syrian  kingdom 
was  not  able  to  stand  the  stress  of  this  invasion;  Qede,  Cheta,  and  Palestine 
were  subdued  by  the  barbarians.  But  just  as  in  later  ages,  after  anterior 
Asia  had  fallen  a victim  to  the  power  of  the  Scythians,  this  same  power 
was  afterwards  broken  in  Egypt,  so  in  these  old  times  also,  the  force  of 
this  tribal  migration  was  crippled  at  the  Egyptian  frontier.  When  the 
people  endeavoured  to  enter  the  mouth  of  the  Nile  by  sea,  Ramses  III. 
attacked  them  with  his  war-ships  and  his  foot-soldiers,  and  won  the  most 
complete  victory.  Though  the  empty  phrases  of  the  inscriptions  teach 
us  very  little  about  the  particulars  of  this  naval  battle,  yet  we  are  able  to 
form  a general  idea  of  it  from  the  accompanying  illustration.  The  ships 
on  both  sides— we  can  recognise  the  Egyptian  by  the  lion-heads  in  the 
bows — have  reefed  their  sails  in  order  not  to  interfere  with  the  men  who 
are  fighting  ; the  basket  at  the  masthead  also  has  been  removed  to  make 

1 The  report,  Mar.  Karn.,  52  ft'.,  consists  only  of  half  lines,  the  details  are  therefore  very  difficult 
to  understand.  I see  nothing  in  it  to  imply  that  these  tribes  already  occupied  the  Delta  before 
the  war. 


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away 


542 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


room  for  a slinger.  The  Egyptians  understand  how  to  pull  round  the 
ships  of  the  enemy  with  their  grappling  irons,  so  as  to  bring  them  to 
close  quarters  ; in  fighting  also  they  have  the  better  of  their  opponents, 
for  they  all  carry  bows,  whilst  the  barbarians  with  their  short  swords  can 
only  fight  in  a hand-to-hand  medley. 

This  battle  is  almost  the  only  naval  engagement  in  Egyptian  history  ; 
for  though  in  the  wars  with  the  Hyksos  we  certainly  hear  of  fighting  on 
the  water,  yet  in  the  latter  case  the  Nile  was  the  scene  of  action.1  From 
the  account  of  this  battle,  we  learn  that  on  the  ships  of  war  the  subordinate 
officer  bore  the  title  of  u‘an,  as  in  the  case  of  the  foot-soldiers,  while  the 
highest  rank  that  an  officer  could  attain  was  that  of  “ chief  of  the  ships,” 
i.e.  admiral.  The  ships  had  their  individual  names,  as  Battle  Animal , 
or  Glorious  in  Memphis.  The  ship  of  Pharaoh  is  also  called  Beloved  of 
Avion , and  as  the  standard-bearer  and  the  u‘au  of  the  latter  ship  are  often 
mentioned,"  it  must  have  been  a ship  of  war.  As  a rule  however,  as  far 
as  we  know,  the  army  in  Egypt  was  always  of  far  more  importance  than 
the  navy. 

We  know  little  of  the  organisation  of  the  troops  with  which  the  kings  of 
the  i 8th  dynasty  undertook  their  campaigns,  for  the  inscriptions  generally 
speak  of  soldiers  merely  without  entering  into  detail.  We  are  far  better 
informed  as  to  the  military  conditions  under  the  19th  and  20th  dynasties, 
though  even  here  much  still  requires  elucidation. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  army  of  the  Middle  Empire  consisted  essentially 
of  companies  of  militia,  which  were  supplied  in  times  of  need  by  the 
princes  of  the  various  nomes  ; it  is  uncertain  how  far  this  old  institution 
was  retained  under  the  entirely  new  conditions  of  the  New  Empire.  At 
any  rate,  in  the  inscriptions,  we  hear  no  more  of  what  we  might  almost 
call  the  private  armies  of  the  nomes,  and  with  regard  to  the  soldiers  of  the 
temple  estates,  which  existed  afterwards  as  before,3  I can  scarcely  say 
whether  they  were  more  than  a body  of  police  which  had  to  keep  order  in 
the  sanctuary  and  on  the  estates  of  the  god.  The  great  wars  of  the 
New  Empire  at  all  events  were  carried  on  with  a state  army,  of  which 
only  the  smaller  part  was  raised  in  Egypt,4  while  the  larger  part  was 
recruited  from  foreign  mercenaries.  This  was  the  case  at  any  rate  under 
the  19th  dynasty;  for  instance,  a small  army  of  this  time  consisted  of 
3 1 00  barbarian  mercenaries,  and  only  1 900  regular  soldiers.5  Of  these 
regular  soldiers  also  one  part  only  had  really  the  right  to  be  called  Egyptian 
troops  in  the  old  sense,  the  company  bearing  the  old  original  name  of 

soldiers,  f'y . On  the  other  hand,  the  soldiers  called  the  Nalaruna  were 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  12  cl. 

2 Liebl.,  208,  716,  763,  916.  Two  other  ships,  ditto,  591,  667. 

3 Concerning  the  temple  soldiers  of  the  N.  E.,  see  p.  304.  That  the  great  sanctuaries  had  their 
soldiers  even  under  the  Old  Empire,  we  see  from  the  titles  of  the  high  priests,  as  Mar.  mon.  div.,  18, 
and  other  examples. 

4 In  L.  D.,  iii.  219,  it  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  after  the  regular  soldiers,  mention  is  made  of 

“ 200  officers  of  the  squadron  of  the  fishers  of  the  state  ” ; this  seems  to  imply  that  the  fisher-serfs 
formed  a military  company.  3 An.,  1,  17.  2 ffi 


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(as  their  Semitic  name  derived  from  ijn  youth  probably  implies J)  a 
new  organisation  formed  after  foreign  fashion,  and  the  oft-mentioned  Pidt, 
the  bow-company , seem  to  have  been  a barbarian  corps.  With  great 
probability  it  has  been  suggested  that  their  curious  appellation  bow  indi- 
cates that  they  were  recruited  from  the  nine  bows , i.e.  from  the  neighbouring 
barbarian  tribes.'2  As  a fact,  we  learn  from  an  inscription  of  the  20th 
dynasty,  that  in  the  transport  of  stone,  for  instance,  the  barbarians  called 
‘Apur  belonged  to  the  “ bow  of  the  ‘Anuti  barbarians.”  3 It  is  therefore 
usually  considered  that  the  term  bows  signifies  auxiliary  forces,  and  this 
interpretation  of  the  word  is  retained  in  this  book.  These  bow-troops  were 
commanded  by  chiefs , men  of  rank  and  education,  from  whose  correspond- 
ence one  or  two  letters  have  been  preserved.  A chief  of  one  of  these 
auxiliary  companies  commanded  in  Ethiopia  ; 4 others  occupied  the  frontier 
fortresses  in  the  east  of  the  Delta;'  and  the  well -stations  of  southern 
Palestine  ; b it  is  a fact  therefore  that  we  meet  with  them  on  foreign  soil, 
and  consequently  they  have  a right  to  bear  the  title  “ superintendent  of 
the  barbarian  country  ” ; 1 though  at  the  same  time  a similar  officer  seems 
also  to  have  resided  in  Heliopolis.' 

It  is  possible  that  the  corps  of  the  Mad'ay  were  reckoned  originally 
amongst  these  bozo-troops.  These  men  belonged  to  the  Nubian  race  of  the 
Medra,  who  even  under  the  Old  Empire  (see  p.  522)  sometimes  served  in 
the  Egyptian  army,  and  as  it  appears  were  celebrated  in  old  times  as 
desert  hunters.9  Under  the  New  Empire  however  they  were  formed  into 
a military  corps  that  answered  in  many  respects  to  our  constables  and 
police,  and  were  employed  in  various  ways  by  the  government.  At  all 
events  they  were  under  chiefs  f and  their  commander  was  the  “ prince  of 
Mad'ay.”  11  It  is  not  now  known  from  which  tribes  they  were  recruited 
under  the  New  Empire,  for  it  is  but  seldom  that  one  of  them  bears  a 
native  name  like  Bekuarenra  ; 12  most  of  them  adopted  good  old  Egyptian 
names  such  as  Nechtsetf  Set  is  victorious ; or  Enhernachtf  ’ Enhor  is 
victorious , and  similar  names  bearing  a warlike  character.  But  in  spite  of 
thus  outwardly  naturalising  themselves  as  Egyptians,  yet  in  the  eyes  of  the 
pure-bred  natives  of  the  Nile  Valley  they  were  still  homeless  barbarians  ; 
for  instance,  a “ deputy  of  the  soldiers  ” writes  contemptuously  to  the 
“ prince  of  the  Mad'ay  : ‘ Thou  art  a child  of  a bond-servant,  thou  art  no 
prince  at  all  ; thou  hast  immigrated  from  some  other  place,  in  order  to 
resort  hither.’  ” 15  In  another  case  moreover,  one  of  these  princes  is  also 
invested  with  other  high  military  dignities.16  The  Egyptian  officials  were 

1 This  explanation  youths  is  rendered  probable  by  the  passage  Mar.  Karn.,  54,  45,  where  the 
opposite  appears  to  be  old  men.  Under  Ramses  II.  there  was  a ua‘ariina  (the  word  is  used  as 
if  it  were  a collective  noun,  cp.  Vnj?3)  in  ’Emur  : L.D.,  iii.  187  e. 

2 The  signification  archers  is  inadmissible,  as  these  are  called  , a quite  different  term. 

3 L. D.,  iii.  219.  4 P.  j.  T.,  5,  3.  5 An.,  3,  6,  R.  6 An.,  5.  11,  7 ff. 

7 An.,  5,  11,  7.  8 An.,  1,  10,  1. 

9 Md' a really  signifies  hunter  : see  Br.  Wb.  Suppl.,  594.  10  Abb.,  1,7,  10  b. 

11  An.,  5,  25,  2.  12  Abb.,  1,  10  a.  13  Turin,  16.  14  An.,  5,  25,  3. 

15  An.,  5,  26,  5.  13  L.  D.,  iii.  138  n. 


544 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


accustomed  as  a rule  to  speak  ill  of  the  Mad 'ay  “with  their  many  com- 
mands,” 1 and  without  mincing  matters,  the  above-mentioned  Nechtset 
compares  one  of  them  to  “ that  enemy  of  Re‘,”  2 or  as  we  should  say,  to 
the  devil.  We  may  further  remark  that  in  later  times  the  Mad'ay  must 
have  played  a still  more  important  part  in  the  state,  for  their  name  in  the 
form  of  the  word  Matoi  finally  became  the  general  term  for  soldiers,  and 
was  still  in  use  amongst  the  Egyptians  of  Christian  times. 

To  these  original  barbaric  elements  of  the  Egyptian  army  we  must  add 
under  the  1 9th  dynasty  the  oft-named  Shardana,  Oahaq  and  Mashauasha,3 
tribes  of  the  conquered  Libyans  and  sea-folk,  who,  like  the  Turkish  tribes 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  entered  the  service  of  the  Pharaohs  under  their  own 
chiefs , and  like  them  also  finally  became  the  ruling  power  in  the  state. 
That  they  were  employed  in  considerable  numbers  is  shown  by  the  corps  of 
5000  men  we  have  already  mentioned,  which  contained  520  Shardana, 
1620  Qahaq,  and  880  Mashauasha  and  negroes.  The  battles  also  which 
Merenptah  and  Ramses  III.  fought  with  these  same  tribes  and  their  allies 
were  doubtless  fought  chiefly  by  the  help  of  these  barbarian  mercenaries. 
In  the  periods  with  which  we  are  concerned,  these  troops  of  savages  were 
always  expressly  kept  separate  from  the  regular  army  ; 4 they  remained  in 
distinct  tribes,  for  Ramses  III.  calls  the  commanders,  whom  he  set  over 
the  barbarians  in  his  service,  the  “ chiefs  of  the  auxiliary  troops,  and  the 
chiefs  of  the  tribes.”5 

The  usual  division  of  the  army  was  into  squadrons  X ; as  to  the  size 


of  each  squadron  I really  have  nothing  conclusive  to  say,  though  we  know 
a few  of  their  names.  Thus  under  the  1 8th  dynasty  we  meet  with  the 
squadron  of  Avion?  a squadron  styled  the  beauty  of  the  sun-disk,'  and  the 
squadron  of  the  Pharaoh .s  Under  the  kings  of  the  19th  dynasty  the 
regiments  were  called  by  even  more  high-sounding  names  ; a regiment  of 
auxiliary  troops  that  was  stationed  in  the  country  of  D'apur,  was  called 
the  squadron  shining  as  the  sun-disk?  and  a regiment  under  Sety  I.  bore 
the  name  of  Avion  protects  his  soldiers f In  time  of  war  larger  bodies  of 

troops  were  formed  from  these  squadrons  ; Ramses  II.,  for  instance,  had 
four  such  bodies  of  troops  with  him  on  his  second  campaign,  which  he 
named  after  the  four  great  gods  of  the  country,  the  armies  of  Amon,  of 
Re‘,  of  Ptah,  and  of  Sutech,11  or  rather,  if  we  quote  the  full  names,  “the 
first  army  of  Amon,  who  gives  victory  to  Ramses  II.”  etc.lL> 

Doubtless  a military  eye  would  have  easily  distinguished  the  various 


1 An.,  5,  26,  5. 

3 An.,  1,  17,  2 ff.  ; Harr.,  76,  5. 
6 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab. , 1063,  1076. 

8 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1087. 

10  Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1137. 


2 Tur.,  16,  2. 

4 E.g.  Harr.,  76,  5.  5 Harr..  77,  5. 

7 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1062,  1070. 

9 A.  Z.,  1S81,  p.  1 19. 

11  Raifet,  10. 


12  L.  D.,  iii.  155.  With  regard  to  these  armies  named  after  the  gods,  they  are  not  identical 
with  the  troops  supplied  by  the  temples  of  those  gods.  In  the  first  place,  the  relative  wealth  of 
the  temples  varied  so  considerably  that  the  size  of  the  various  corps  would  also  consequently  be 
very  disproportionate  ; and  further,  if  we  were  to  accept  this  conclusion,  the  king  would  have  no 
military  force  of  his  own  with  him. 


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divisions  of  the  Egyptian  army  by  their  clothing  and  by  their  arms  , 
meanwhile  we  cannot  attain  to  this  knowledge,  and  we  must  content  our- 
selves with  noticing  a few  especially  striking  points  in  the  outward  appear- 
ance of  the  soldiers. 

As  it  is  necessary  for  a soldier  to  be  able  to  move  easily  and  quickly, 
the  Egyptian  soldiers  as  a rule  wore  nothing  but  a short  skirt,  w hich  w as 
still  further  shortened  in  front  to  allow  of  a rapid  stride.  This  costume 
however  afforded  no  protection  at  all  to  the  lower  part  of  the  body, 


which  was  therefore  covered  by  a special  three-cornered  or  heart-shaped 
lappet,  fastened  on  in  front,  and  probably  made  of  leather.1 2  It  appears 
that  Ramses  II.,  if  the  chance  pictures  we  possess  do  not  mislead  us, 
introduced  a great  change  into  this  conventional  costume,  for  his  warriors 
no  longer  wear  this  lappet  to  their  skirt,  but  are  mail-clad  in  a thick  cap, 
and  a close-fitting  upper  dress."  This  helmet  and  coat  of  mail,  however, 
did  not  consist  of  metal,  they  were  made  more  probably,  as  many  of  the 
pictures  seem  to  show,  of  thickly-wadded  material,  such  as  is  worn  even 
now  in  the  Sudan  and  forms  an  excellent  protection.  In  rare  instances 
they  may  have  been  covered  with  metal  plates.  Under  Ramses  II.  the 
high  officers  and  especially  the  charioteers  certainly  wear  a special  costume, 
viz.  a long  skirt,  an  upper  dress,  and  over  that  a short  leathern  coat  of 


1 L.  D.,  iii.  94,  97  e,  117,  121  a.  Does  the  central  flap  of  the  ancient  Shend'ot  correspond  with 
this  piece?  and  is  the  Shend'ot  possibly  the  original  war-costume  of  the  kings? 

J L.  IX,  iii.  154,  156,  16S  : particularly  clear  and  somewhat  dissimilar  : L.  D. , iii.  214. 

2 N 


546 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAT. 


mail  covering  the  breast,  back,  and  thighs.1  Later  they  seem  to  have  re- 
turned again  to  the  old  war  costume  with  the  heart-shaped  lappet  in  front.2 

The  accompanying  picture, 
which  shows  the  foot  soldiery  of 
the  first  army  on  the  march,  illus- 
trates the  equipment  of  the  troops 
under  Ramses  II.  They  are  armed 
with  lances,  and  alternately  also 
with  daggers  or  sickle  - shaped 
swords,  while  every  fifth  man, 
probably  a subordinate  officer, 
carries  a short  wand.  They  have 
hung  their  heavy  shields  over 
their  backs  during  the  march. 

INFANTRY  OF  RAMSES  II.  (after  L.  D. , iii.  155).  . 

I he  pictures  of  the  troops 
serving  as  bodyguard  at  the  court  of  King  Chuen’eten  belong  to  a 
somewhat  earlier  date.3  The  arms  of  this  corps  consist  of  a shield  and 
light  lance  ; the  officers  carry  clubs.  Another  company  carry  heavy 
lances,  an  axe,  and  a shield,  and  are  commanded  by 
officers  with  sticks  ; they  are  also  distinguished  from 
the  first  corps  by  their  coiffure,  which  is  made  to 
cover  their  ears  ; 4 the  front  flap  of  their  skirt  is  also 
somewhat  narrower.  Similarly  attired  is  a company 
armed  with  a sort  of  threshing  flail,  and  commanded 
by  men  bearing  clubs.  We  are  also  able  to  recognise 
a troop  of  auxiliaries  of  this  period — Syrians  in  their 
native  costume  armed  with  long  lances;  a short  dagger 
is  stuck  in  the  girdle  ; they  are  commanded  by 
Egyptians.  Other  pictures  show  us  negro  companies 
serving  under  the  same  king  and  armed  with  bows 
and  arrows.’  These  various  regiments  are  of  course 
accompanied  by  the  standard-bearers,  so  often  men- 
tioned in  the  inscriptions  ; representations  of  a few  of 
the  various  standards  are  given  in  the  accompanying  illustration.6  As 
we  see,  some  of  these  standards  are  in  the  form  of  fans,  while  others 
consist  only  of  single  ostrich  feathers,  which  as  we  have  already  observed 
were  a symbol  of  victory. 

Entirely  distinct  from  the  kind  of  troops  we  have  already  men- 
tioned were  those  whom  we  may  style  the  fashionable  force  under  the 
New  Empire,  namely,  the  tent-htor,  the  horse-estate , i.e.  the  chariot 
force.  In  every  respect  they  played  the  part  of  our  cavalry.  As  we 
have  already  seen  in  the  preceding  chapter,  the  chariot  in  Egypt  was  of 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  153,  187  c.  2 L.  D.,  iii.  231.  Ros.  Mon.  Stor.,  124. 

3 L.  D.,  iii.  92  ; in  part  also  the  same  troops  : L.  D.,  iii.  12 1 b. 

4 May  not  this  possibly  represent  a helmet  ? 

5 L.  D.,  iii.  97,  104.  6 L.  D.,  iii.  92.  In  part  the  same  : ib.  104,  105. 


SOLDIER  OF  THE  TIME  OF 
THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  18TH 

dynasty  (after  L.  D. , iii. 
12 1 b) . 


XX 


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547 


foreign  origin,  and  perhaps  for  that  very  reason  it  stood  in  very  high 
favour  with  the  Egyptians,  both  in  times  of  peace  and  of  war. 


STANDARDS  OF  THE  TROOPS  of  chuen'eten  (after  L.  D. , iii.  92). 


The  chariot  soldiers  stood  two  abreast  on  the  chariot.  One  fought 
from  the  chariot  with  his  bow  and  arrows  1 or  with  his  darts,  which  were 


war-chariot  of  the  cheta  (after  L.D.,  iii.  158). 


conveniently  at  hand,  stuck  into  two  quivers  on  the  edge  of  the  chariot  ; 
the  other  drove  the  horses,  which  were  sometimes  protected  by  wadded 
coats.2  To  the  surprise  of  the  Egyptians  the  Cheta  drove  in  a different 
fashion  ; 3 they  manned  their  chariots  with  three  soldiers  ; that  is  to 


1  L.  D.,  iii.  160. 


2  L.  D. , iii.  165. 


3  Sail.,  3,  1,  1. 


548 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP. 


say,  they  added  a shield-bearer,  who  had  to  protect  the  other  two  with 
his  shield,  whilst  the  Egyptian  chariot-soldier  had  to  cover  himself  with 
his  own  shield.1  The  barracks  for  the  chariot  force  were  the  'eh 

[j  | i i,  the  royal  stables ,2  large  departments  with  “ chiefs  of  the  stables,”  3 

and  “ scribes,”  who  had  not  only  to  take  care  of  the  horses,  but  also  to 
look  after  many  other  matters,  which  to  our  ideas  have  really  very  little 
to  do  with  the  army.  For  instance,  the  scribe  of  one  of  these  stables 
in  writing  to  his  chief,  after  he  has  informed  him  how  it  fared  with  the 
horses,  continues  : “ I have  attended  to  what  my  lord  wrote  to  me : 
‘ Give  provision  to  the  soldiers  and  to  the  ‘Aperu,  who  are  dragging  the 
altar  of  Re‘  of  Ramses  to  Memphis.’  ” 4 We  see  that  in  times  of  peace  the 
division  of  the  chariot  force  was  employed  on  the  public  works  just  as 
much  as  that  of  the  foot  soldiery.  We  have  already  mentioned  (p.  330) 
the  “ stable  of  the  causing  to  become,”  i.e.  in  Egyptian  parlance,  of 
education.5 

Amongst  the  highest  officers  of  this  force  were  the  royal  charioteers, 
or,  according  to  the  foreign  term  usually  employed,  the  Kat'ana.5 7 8  These 
were,  at  any  rate  some  of  them,'  distinguished,  well-educated  men  of  high 
rank,  and  Ramses  II.  as  well  as  Ramses  III.  availed  themselves  of  the 
services  of  their  own  sons  as  “ chief  charioteers  of  his  Majesty,  and 
superintendents  of  the  horses.”  s Amenemopet,  another  “chief  charioteer,” 
a number  of  whose  letters  have  been  preserved,  styles  himself  in  them  a 
“ royal  ambassador  to  all  countries,  the  governor  of  foreign  countries  and 
peoples  ” ; 9 he  was  therefore  not  only  a general  but  also  a diplomatist. 
He  was  a man  of  scholarly  education,  and  doubtless  in  his  heart  he  felt 
contempt  for  his  lower  more  practical  military  appointment.  Otherwise 
we  can  scarcely  understand  why  amongst  other  wise  letters  and  specimen 
passages  of  poetry  he  should  make  his  pupil  Paebpasa  write  out  a warning 

against  the  “ unhappy  position  of  officer  ZCZS.  A jf  V\  of  the  chariot-force.”  10 

As  a boy  the  poor  fellow  referred  to  here  was  placed  through  the  good 
offices  of  his  grandfather  in  the  stable  of  the  king  : — 

“ He  hastens  to  lay  hold  of  the  horses 
In  the  stable  before  his  Majesty. 

He  receives  beautiful  horses, 

And  rejoices  and  exults, 

And  returns  with  them  to  his  town.” 

1 L.  D.,  iii.  155,  160.  2 An.,  3,  5,  Rs.  ; An.,  3,  6,  4 ; Leyden,  349. 

3 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1162,  as  a relative  of  a commander  of  the  auxiliary  troops.  Another  is  at 

the  same  time  Kat'ana  and  governor  of  Nubia,  L.  D. , iii.  138  n. 

4 Leyden,  349  ; cp.  also  L.  D.,  iii.  219,  the  “chiefs  of  the  stables  of  the  court”  at  Hammamat. 

5 Inscription  of  Bekenchons,  1.  3.  For  the  interpretation  of  sochpr  by  education,  cp.  amongst 
other  passages,  1.  4 of  the  same  inscription. 

6 That  the  Kat'ana  signified  originally  only  the  driver  of  a favourite  carriage,  we  see  from 
L.  D.,  iii.  10  a,  bis. 

7 L.  D.,  iii.  219,  “a  Kat'ana  of  the  court”  amongst  the  highest  officers,  and  “fifty  Kat'ana  of 
the  horse  estate,”  mentioned  after  “the  twenty  chiefs  of  the  stable  of  the  court.” 

8 A.  Z.,  1883,  p.  61.  9 An.,  3,  1,  9 ff. -An.,  3,  7,  11.  10  An.,  3,  6,  3 ffi 


XX 


WAR 


549 


He  cannot  bear  the  life  at  home  however,  so  he  gives  his  property  into 
the  charge  of  his  grandfather,  and  drives  away  in  his  chariot.  Therewith 
all  manner  of  ill-luck  happens  to  him,  and  when  at  last  the  review  of 
the  troops  takes  place,  his  misfortunes  reach  their  climax  : — 


Still  less  indeed  must  Paebpasa  think  of  becoming  an  “officer  of  the 


warn  him  of  the  evils  of  the  latter  profession,  Amenemopet  propounds  the 
following  poem  to  him,  a poem  that  is  also  to  be  found  in  the  school 
literature  of  that  period  : — 1 

“ Oh  what  does  it  mean  that  thou  sayest : 

‘ The  officer  has  a better  lot  than  the  scribe  ?’ 

Come  let  me  relate  to  thee  of  the  fate  of  the  officer,  so  full  of  trouble. 

He  is  brought  as  a child  into  the  barracks  (?)  to  be  shut  up  (?)  there. 

A blow,  that  ...  he  receives  in  his  belly, 

A blow,  that  cuts  open,  he  receives  on  his  eyebrows, 

And  his  head  is  split  open  by  a wound  ! 

They  lay  him  down  and  beat  upon  him  as  upon  a book, 

He  is  broken  by  flogging. 

Come  let  me  relate  to  thee  how  he  travels  to  Syria, 

How  he  marches  in  the  upland  country. 

His  food  and  his  water  he  has  to  carry  on  his  arm, 

Laden  like  a donkey  ; 

This  makes  his  neck  stiff  like  that  of  a donkey, 

And  the  bones  of  his  back  break. 

He  drinks  dirty  water  . . . 

If  he  arrives  in  face  of  the  enemy, 

He  is  like  a bird  in  a snare. 

If  he  arrives  at  his  home  in  Egypt, 

He  is  like  wood,  that  the  worms  eat. 

He  is  ill,  and  must  lie  down. 

They  have  to  bring  him  home  on  the  donkey, 

Whilst  his  clothes  are  stolen,  and  his  servants  run  away. 

Therefore,  O scribe, 

Reverse  thine  opinion  about  the  happiness  of  the  scribe  and  of  the  officer.” 

As  we  have  said,  this  contempt  affected  by  a higher  officer  for  the 
position  of  his  subordinate  is  apparently  explained  by  the  fact  that  a 
learned  education  was  always  required  for  the  higher  appointments.  In 
truth,  amongst  the  highest  officers,2  we  always  meet  with  “ scribes  of 
the  army  ” ; and  when  we  consider  that  it  was  a “ royal  scribe  of  the 
command  of  the  army,” 3 and  another  officer,4  who  entered  into  the 

1 An.,  4,  9,  4 ff.  =An.,  3,  5,  5 ff.  A similar  poem  of  like  import : A.  Z.,  18S0,  p.  96. 

2 The  most  important  source  for  ascertaining  the  rank  of  the  various  officers  is  the  inscription  : 
L.D.,  iii.  219,  which  evidently  gives  the  officers  and  officials  named  therein  in  their  order  of  rank. 

3 An.,  1,  2,  3. 


“ He  is  bastinadoed  on  the  ground, 
Bastinadoed  with  a hundred  stripes.” 


whose  fate  is  even  far  worse.  In  order  to 


4  lb.  1,  8.  I know  not  what  is  meant 
L.D.,  iii.  219,  which  might  nevertheless  be  also  construed  stint. 


55° 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


CHAP.  XX 


above-mentioned  controversy  about  a fine  style  of  writing  (see  p.  380),  we 
see  at  once  that  these  officers  felt  themselves  to  be  the  representatives 
of  classical  education.  There  were  moreover  many  different  degrees  in 
this  rank  of  scribe  : some  scribes  were  only  attached  to  a certain  company,1 
while  others  were  certainly  eligible  for  the  highest  commands  in  the  whole 
army,  as  eg  the  “ superintendent  of  the  soldiers,  and  scribe  of  the  army.”  2 
The  latter  indeed  might  do  the  work  of  deputy  for  the  distinguished 
“ representative  of  the  army  ” (often  termed  representative  alone  for  short), 
a man  who,  at  any  rate  in  one  case,  took  precedence  even  of  the  high 
“charioteer  of  the  court.”  3 

This  scholarly  education  of  the  officers  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
prejudicial  to  the  performance  of  their  practical  duties  ; in  times  of  peace 
both  in  the  earlier  and  later  periods  they  were  employed  in  all  manner  of 
engineering  works,  such  as  the  transport  of  stone,4  or  the  organisation  of 
irrigation  canals.0  These  duties  were  not  felt  to  be  in  any  way  derogatory 
for  the  high  officers  : 

“ The  superintendent  of  the  army,  the  chief  of  the  bow-troops,  the  Saket,  who 
stands  before  them, 

the  standard-bearer,  the  representative, 

the  scribe  of  the  army,  the  commander  of  the  peasantry — 

they  go  in  and  go  out 

in  the  courts  of  the  king’s  house,” 

whilst  the  poor  subordinate,  the  inferior  officer,  the  u‘au , is  compared  to 
a laden  donkey.  For  “ he  must  work  till  the  sun  sets,”  and  at  night  he 
cannot  sleep  for  hunger  : “ he  is  dead  while  he  yet  lives.”  6 

Thus  according  to  Egyptian  ideas,  even  in  the  profession  of  arms,  a 
good  education  was  the  only  thing  that  could  bring  men  happiness  and 
success. 

1 Mar.  Cat.  d’Ab.,  1137.  Cp.  also  L.D.,  iii.  219,  where  in  addition  to  two  specially  mentioned 
scribes  of  the  army  (“scribe  of  the  Shu”  and  “scribe  deputy”),  twenty  are  named  together  without 
any  title. 

2 Inscr.  in  the  hier.  char. , 29.  Also  the  “ royal  scribe  and  superintendent  of  the  soldiers.”  An., 

5,  21,  8 ; frequently  also  merely  “superintendent  of  the  soldiers,”  and  doubtless  also  often  simply 
“royal  scribe.”  3 L.  1).,  iii.  219.  An.,  5,  23,  7 ff.  Leyden,  348,  7.  An.,  3,  5,  Rs.,  etc. 

4 L.  D.,  iii.  219.  An.,  1,  15,  3.  An.,  5,  23,  7 ff.  Leyden,  348,  7.  5 An.,  5,  21,  8 ff. 

6 A.  Z.,  1880,  96.  The  explanation  I gave  there  now  seems  to  me  to  be  erroneous.  It  is 
uncertain  whether  in  the  poetical  list  here  given  of  the  officers  superior  to  the  u‘au,  they  are  really 
in  order  of  rank. 


SHIELD  COVERED  WITH  FUR  (after  W. , i.  1 98). 


INDEX 


Abt  el  Qurna,  22  (see  Gurnah) 

'Abu,  town,  18,  498 
Abu  Simbel  temple,  503,  536 
Abusir,  town,  170 
Abydos,  town,  23,  309,  403 

burial-place,  40,  95,  97,  101,  104,  278,  313, 

3I4,  416 

high  priest  of,  157,  163 
journey  of  mummy  to,  320 
priesthood  of,  273,  291  f. , 295  note 
temple,  273,  291  f. 
tomb  of  Osiris,  271,  320 
Accession  of  king,  festival  of  the,  65 
Accounts,  keeping  of,  112 
‘Achech  (griffin),  240,  242 
Adoration  of  Rfi',  390 
Agricultural  labourer,  position  of,  445 
Agriculture,  15,  425  ; administration  of,  86 
'Ah’a,  house  of  the  king,  69 
‘Ah-hotep,  queen,  74,  461  f. 

A'hmose,  general,  118  f. 

'Ahmose,  king,  42,  102  f. , 154,  470 
A'hmose-nefert-'ere,  queen,  74,  138,  154 
Ahnas,  see  Chenensuten 
Alabaster  quarries,  25,  470 
statue  of,  477 
Alexander,  51 
Alliteration,  395 

Altar  of  Tell  el  Amarna,  287,  288 
Amada,  temple,  503 
Amalgamation  of  divinities,  261 
Amasis,  51 

Amenemheb,  general,  118 

AmenemhS't  I.,  36  f.,  41,  90,  92,  370,  383,  403, 
539 

11.,  92,  507 

111.,  26,  41,  284,  469,  472,  474 
prince,  473 

Amenemopet,  chief  charioteer,  538 
Amenhotep  I.,  43,  77,  119,  138 

11.,  44.  77 

111.,  44,  38,  103,  108,  148,  207,  242,  281, 
318,  412,  470,  496,  503 

colossal  head  of,  412 

IV.,  Chueneten,  24,  45  f.,  64,  74,  119,  163, 
207,  262  f. , 285,  287,  305,  327,  403  f. , 412, 
4M.  546 

son  of  Hapu,  103,  148  f. , 347,  354 
Ameny,  nomarch,  464,  523 

Anion,  god,  21,  43  f.,  68,  103,  148,  163,  239, 
393.  5°3 

high  priests  of,  290,  409 
hymn  to,  391 
priesthood  of,  294 


Amon,  property  of,  302  ff. 

temple  of,  195,  197,  280  ff.,  503 
Amon  Re‘,  384 
Amony,  prince,  92  f. , 152 
Amony-seneb,  priest,  88 
Amr,  conqueror,  27 
‘Amt’en,  prince,  83  ff. , 173,  196 
‘Amu-’en-sh’e,  prince,  370 
Amulets,  274,  356,  438 
‘An‘art,  worm,  232 
Anastasi  papyrus,  380 
Anat,  goddess,  317 
Ancestors,  duty  towards,  157 
Anchesenpa’eten,  princess,  120 
Angling,  239 
Anibe,  tomb,  504 
Animals,  domestic,  441 
drawing  of,  400 
love  of,  436 

manifestation  of  gods  in,  260 
pet,  444 

sacrificial,  322,  402 
wild,  441 
Anklets,  227 

Answerers  (ushebte),  317 
Antelopes,  241  f. 

Antithetical  poetry,  395 

Anubis,  god,  23  f. , 270,  291,  308,  498 

Apophis,  snake,  148 

Apopi,  king,  42 

’Apury,  foreign  race,  476,  543,  348 
'Ar‘at,  queen,  154 
I Arch,  construction  of,  419 
Architectural  forms  derived  from  floral  decora 
tion,  420 

from  mud  buildings,  417 
from  wooden  buildings,  419 
statues,  41 1 

Architecture,  39,  167  ff. 

superintendent  of,  39 
Argo,  island,  500 
Aristocracy,  99,  102  f. 

Arithmetic,  363 
Armorial  bearings,  17 
Armour,  wadded,  545 
Arms  of  the  different  regiments,  545 
of  the  mercenaries,  546 

Army,  constitution  of,  103,  321,  323,  542,  544 
equipment  of,  524 
Arsinoe  (Shedet),  town,  26 
Artists,  109,  414 

genealogy  of,  416 
Art,  hereditary,  416 

naturalistic,  400,  404 


55^ 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


Art,  provincial,  402 

renaissance  under  the  26th  dynasty,  51 
under  the  Old  Empire,  401 
under  the  Middle  Empire,  403 
under  the  New  Empire,  403 
under  the  priest-kings,  409 
Arts  and  crafts,  446  ft'. 

industrial,  423  ff. 

Asarhaddon,  king,  50 
Asas,  mountain,  325,  326 
Ascalon,  town,  533 
Ashmunen  (Chrnunu),  town,  23 
Asiatic  expeditions,  299 
Assuan  (Syene),  town,  7,  18,  498,  500 
fortress  of,  526 
quarries,  381,  471 
Assyrians,  50,  515 
Astarte,  goddess,  517 
Astrology,  350 
Astronomy,  349 
Atef  crown,  65,  27r 

Atum,  god,  41,  44  f.,  65,  90,  259,  261,  343 
Avaris  (Hatu'ar)  fortress,  28 
town,  41  f. , 102 
Avenues  of  sphinxes,  280 


B.VAL,  god,  394,  517,  529,  53t 
Baboons,  390 
Backwaters,  12,  235 
Badges,  228,  524 
of  office,  296  f. 

Baggage-waggons,  491 
Bahr  Yusuf,  canal,  25 
Bakery,  180 

court,  19T  f. 

Baket,  princess,  92 
Bak'te,  treasurer,  94 
Balcony  ( smshd ),  119,  120,  182 
Ballad  poetry,  383 
Balls,  249 
Banquets,  193 
Barbers,  304 
Bark  Neshmet,  320 
Nun,  320 

Barks,  divine,  275,  281 
Barley,  434 

Barter  and  exchange,  496  ff. , 512 
Bashmurites,  tribe,  35 
Baskets,  plaited,  448 
Bas-relief,  art  of,  397  f. 

Bas-reliefs  of  Der  el  Bahri,  510 
Bast  or  Bastet,  goddess,  27,  245,  247 
Bastinado,  132 
Battle,  naval,  540 

of  Kadesh,  392,  408,  528 
poem  of  Ramses  II.,  393  ff. 
reliefs,  406  ff. , 529  ff. ; parody  of,  520 
Bay,  chief  treasurer,  55 
Bazaars  or  markets,  494  ff. 

Beads,  458 
Beards,  divine,  226 

natural  and  artificial,  225  ff. 
royal,  59,  226,  234 
shaved  off,  225 

Bechen  mountain,  466,  472,  475 
Bedrooms,  181 
Beduins,  14,  23,  84 

wars  with,  52t,  522 
Beer,  192,  T96,  269 
invention  of,  269 


Beer,  Qede,  117,  188,  192 
Bekenchons,  high  priest,  164  note,  330 
Bekten'eten,  princess,  214 
Belief  in  magic,  356 
Bellows,  459 

Beni  Hasan,  tombs  of,  23  f. , 91,  93,  98,  324, 

403 

Benu,  phoenix,  271 
Bersheh,  town,  23  f. , 98,  324,  478 
Besa,  god,  396,  424,  514 
Bey  rout,  town,  515 

Biban  el  Molftk,  tombs,  21  f. , 137,  325  f. 

Bills  of  payment,  123,  497 
Bird-net,  236  f. 

Bird-snaring,  236  f. , 442 
Birds,  decoy,  237 
fattening  of,  442 
wild,  235  ff.,  388 
Birds-of-passage,  442 
Bitter  Lakes  (Qem-uer),  370,  526 
canal  connecting  the,  537 
Boat-building,  12,  435  note,  456,  507 
Boat-cabins,  487  ff. 

Boats,  479  ff.  ; characteristic  form  of  Nile-boats, 
480  ; various  forms  of  boats,  480,  482  ff. , 485 
note,  486  note,  487  note,  3x3,  316,  papyrus 
boats,  479  f.  ; sailing-boats  of  the  O.  E. , 482  ; 
of  the  M.  E. , 483  ; of  the  N.  E.,  487,  489  ; 
rowing-boats,  481  ff. ; freight-boats,  471,  483  ft, 
488  ; tow-boats,  485  ; war-boats,  471,  323, 
340;  sea-boats,  488  f. , 508,  311  ff.  ; royal 
boats,  73,  487  f. , s 1 1 ; boats  for  the  gods,  275  ft, 
483  ; names  of  boats,  342 
Bodyguard  of  the  Pharaoh,  103,  524,  546 
Book  of  the  Dead,  313,  343 
Books,  medical,  357 
sacred,  264,  343 

Boomerang,  or  throw-stick,  233,  236,  242  note 

Boring  of  wells,  465  f. , 506 

Botany,  360 

Bowls  for  offerings,  312 

Bows  and  arrows,  243 

Bow-troops,  543,  530 

Boyhood,  164  ff. 

Bracelets,  227 
Branding  of  cattle,  444 
Bread,  native  and  foreign,  188,  516 
Bread-making,  189  f. 

Breeding  of  cattle,  433  ff. , 443 
Brewery  (the pure),  192 
Brick  buildings,  417,  418 
Brickmaking,  417,  418 
Brick  pyramids,  313 
Bridges,  537 
Bronze,  460  ff. 

statuettes,  461 
tools,  460 

Bronze-working,  460 
Bubastis,  27 
Building,  167  ff. 

of  temples,  280  ff. 
of  tombs,  318  f. 
materials,  417  ff. 

Bull-fights,  243 
Bulls,  244 

Burial-field  of  Abydos,  313 

of  Dra-abul-nega,  304  f. , 304  note,  444 
of  Memphis,  90,  310 
of  Thebes,  314 
Bushmur,  16 

Busiris,  town  (Dedu),  27,  260,  271 


INDEX 


553 


Buto  (Ud'ot),  goddess,  270 

(Dep  or  Pe),  town,  84,  270,  279 
Byblos,  town,  270,  359,  515 

Cabinetmakers,  455 
Cabins  of  ships,  487  ff. 

Cakes,  190  f. 

Calendar,  330 
Calves,  438  f. 

Cambyses,  51 
Camels,  493 
Camp-life,  407 

Camp  scenes,  pictures  of,  530 

Canal  connecting  the  Bitter  Lakes,  537 

Canals,  Suez,  Mahmudijeh  and  Sweet  Water,  476 

Canopic  vases,  306,  317 

Capitals  of  pillars,  420  ff. 

Caravan  routes,  505  f. 

Cargo-boats,  471,  483  f. , 488 
Caricature  pictures,  155,  230,  233,  439,  518, 
520 

Carmel,  Mount,  527 
Carpenters,  452  ff. 

Carpentry,  decorative,  436 
Carpetting  and  matting,  172  f. , 186 
Carpet-weaving,  447  note,  448  f. 

Carriages,  490  ff. 

Cartonage,  or  papier  machd,  312,  315,  436 

Castanets,  249,  233,  254 

Castles,  plan  of,  531  (see  Fortresses) 

Cats,  236 

Cattle,  branding  of,  444 

breeding,  433  ff.,  443  ff. 
imported,  443 
inspection  of,  441 
Cavalry,  546 

Ceremonial  of  Court,  70  f. , 88,  227 
Ceremonies,  mystical  funeral,  321 
Cha'emhet,  sup.  of  granaries,  108,  318,  496 
Cha'emuese,  prince,  49,  77,  131,  140 
Cha‘fr£  (Chephren),  39,  100,  170,  203,  243,411, 
413.  472 
Chairs,  183  f. 

Change  of  orthography,  262 
Chapel  of  tomb,  31 1 
Characteristics,  national,  34  f. , 320  f. 

of  neighbouring  nations,  520 
Charges  upon  temple  subjects,  300 
Charioteers  (Kat'ana),  492,  527,  347,  348 
Chariot-force,  393,  346 
Chariots,  490  ff. 

Chemnis,  town,  23 
Chene,  necropolis,  136 

Chenensu,  or  Chenensuten  (Herakleopolis),  town, 
23,  268,  347 

Chenshotep,  son  of ’Eney,  384 
ChentchetuSr,  treasurer,  507 
Chenu,  see  Silsileh 
Cheops,  see  Chufu 
Cheperesh,  war-helmet,  61 
Chepr  e,  god,  266  f. 

Chepr'e-Set,  god,  49 
Cherheb,  priest,  289  ; see  Reciter-priest 
Cheta,  battle  with  the,  392  ff. , 408,  328  ff. 
country  of,  381 
king  of  the,  132,  528  ff. 
people,  44,  47  f.,  50,  313,  531  ff. 
princess,  marriage  of  Ramses  II.  with,  337 
treaty  with  the,  534  ff. 
wars  with  the,  527 


Chetasar,  king,  48,  534  ff. 

Chety,  princess,  92,  152 
Childhood,  163 

Children,  duties  of,  133  ff.,  319 
Chmunu  (Ashmunen  or  Hermopolis),  town,  23, 
345.  380 

Chnemhotep,  dwarf,  410 

(nomarch),  91  ff. , 103,  132,  137,  242,  248, 
296,  324 

Chnemtamun  (Hatasu  or  Ha'tshepsu),  queen,  22, 
77,  163,  194,  207-393,  488,  510  ff,  514 
Chnum,  god,  20,  259,  375,  300,  503 
Chons,  god,  303,  321 

Chuen'eten  (Amenhotep  IV.),  king,  24,  43  f. , 64, 
74,  119,  163,  207,  283,  287,  303,  327,  405, 
412,  414,  346 

Chufu  (Cheops),  39,  32,  170,  290,  311,  324, 
373  487.  5°7.  5ii 

Circumcision,  32,  539  and  note 
Civilisation,  16 
Clay  figures,  457 
Cleanliness,  217,  439 
Climate,  3,  9,  13,  13 
Cloaks,  214  ff. 

Cloisonne  work,  462 
Coachmen  (Kat'ana),  492 
Coat  of  mail,  343 
Coffin  for  Osiris,  270 
Coffin-making,  432,  455 

Coffins,  171  ff.,  312,  313,  319  f.,  473  f.,  485 
College  of  priests,  145,  295 

Colonies  in  Nubia,  499,  304  ; in  the  desert,  506  ; 

in  Palestine,  318  notes,  539 
Colonnades,  281 
Colossi,  412,  472,  475,  477 
Colossus  of  the  sledge,  477 
Coloured  pastes,  458 
patterns,  448 

Commentary,  religious,  343,  345,  346 
Commerce,  13,  498  ff. , 514  ff. 

Commissariat  of  court,  no 
of  the  army,  472,  506 
Confiscation  of  the  land,  103 
Conscription  of  men  for  soldiers,  523 
Consonants,  334 

Conspiracy  at  court,  55,  76,  106,  142  f. 

of  mankind  against  Re',  267  ff. 

Constitution  of  the  army,  521,  523,  344 

of  the  state,  79  ff. ; O.  E. , 83  ff.  ; M.E. , 93  ; 
N.  E. , 102 

Contracts  of  Hapd'efa’e,  145,  497 
Conventional  treatment  of  the  human  figure,  398 
Cooking,  188  ff. 

Copper  mines,  467 

money,  122  f. , 497 

Coptos,  town,  463,  466,  472,  474,  506 
Copy-books,  331  ff,  538 
Corn-crushing,  189  f. 
stack,  431 

Coronation  festivities,  63  f. 

Cosmetics,  230  ff. 

Couches,  184 
Court  of  a house,  179 

of  a temple,  281,  287 
Courts  of  justice,  130  ff. 
members  of,  140 
of  the  O.  E. , 87  f. , 138  f. 
of  the  M.  E. , 139  f. 
of  the  N.E. , 139  f. 
of  the  estates,  100 
of  Nubia,  304 


554 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


Crocodiles,  239  f. 
Crown-prince,  69 
Culture  of  flax,  449 
Curtains,  1S6 
Cush,  see  Ethiopia 
Cyprus,  515 


D'ad'aem'onch,  treasurer,  318 
Dada  fruit,  268 
D’en'euna,  people,  540 
Dahs'hur  quarries,  470 
Daily  worship,  273 
Damascus,  town,  515 
Dances,  war,  524 
Dancing,  245  ff. 

Dancing-girls,  216 
Dauuf,  328,  384 
Dapuru,  fortress,  532,  533 
Darius,  27,  51 

Days,  lucky  and  unlucky,  351  f. 

Debhen,  officer,  319 
Debhot,  temple,  20 
Decius,  51 

Decoration  of  boats,  487  ff. 
of  carriages,  492 
of  pillars,  419 
of  temples,  282,  398,  403 
of  tombs,  398 
realistic  style  of,  422 
Decorations  for  merit,  n8ff. 

Decorative  carpentry,  456 
inscriptions,  283,  338 
patterns,  423 

Decoy-birds,  236  note,  237 
Ded,  pillar,  260,  278  ff. , 356,  421 
Ded'e,  magician,  373 
Dedicatory  inscriptions,  395 
Ded-Snefru,  town,  373 
Dedun,  god,  500,  503 
Dedu,  Busiris,  town,  27,  260,  271 
Defeat  of  the  Cheta,  531 
of  the  Libyans,  539 
Degem  or  dgam,  plant,  232,  360 
Degrees  of  rank  in  the  priesthood,  293 
in  the  army,  549  f. 
of  officials,  89  f. 

Delta,  16  f. , 26  ff.,  80  f.,  194 
fortifications  of,  537 
government  of  the,  83  f. 
marshes  of,  235  ft'.,  424,  439,  480 
Demotic  writing,  342 
Denderah,  temple,  23 
town,  40 

Dep  (Buto),  town,  84,  270,  279 
Der-el-Bahri,  temple,  22,  43,  138,  510 
Der-el-Medineh,  temple,  148  f. 

Derr,  temple,  503  f. 

Descriptions  of  nature,  392 
D'eser,  king,  326 
Desert,  Arabian,  8,  92,  462,  505 
Libyan,  8 

Nubian,  463,  465  ff. 
government  of  the,  85,  92,  95,  96 
routes,  23,  25,  505  f. 

Desert  hunting,  242 
Deserters,  treatment  of,  536 
Destruction  des  hommes,  267 
Determinatives,  hieroglyphic,  337 
Development  of  a common  mythology,  261 
Dgam  or  degem,  plant,  232,  360 


Dhuthotep,  prince,  477  f. 

Diagnosis,  medical,  358 
Dice,  257 
Dining-hall,  179 
Diodorus,  67,  141,  463 
Diorite,  413 

Discipline  of  children,  330 
Divine  barks,  275 

cycle  of  gods,  260,  465 

father,  title,  294 

Land,  505  ff. , 514  ff.  (see  Punt) 

Divinities,  amalgamation  of,  261 
Doctors,  232,  356  f. 

Dogs,  131,  242,  244,  376 
Dog-star  (Sothis),  271,  348 
Dolls,  164  f. 

Domestic  animals,  441 

Donkeys,  441  ; as  sacrifices,  509  ; price  of  a, 
497  ; for  riding,  490  ; as  a beast  of  burden, 
43°  f-t  53°  ! *n  the  desert,  472,  474  ; threshing, 
43i 

Doomed  prince,  tale  of,  376  ff. 

Door,  false,  31 1 
Doors,  173,  180  f. 

Doorkeepers,  304 
Dough,  kneading  of,  190 
Doves,  442 

Dra-abulnega,  necropolis  of,  304  f. , 304  note,  444 
Drawbacks  to  the  military  profession,  549 
Drawing  of  animals,  400 

Dress  : O.  E. , 200  ff.  ; M.E. , 203  ; N.E. , 206  f. ; 
of  the  lower  classes,  21 1 f. ; gala  dress,  204  f. , 
207  ff. , 21 1 ; royal  dress,  209  ; women's  dress, 
O. E. , 212  ff. ; M. E. , 213  ; N.E. , 214  ; of  the 
priests,  206,  296  f. ; of  the  army,  545  f. 
Dressing  of  skins,  451 
Drugs,  360 
Drums,  254 
Drunkenness,  253 
Duamutf,  son  of  Osiris,  317 
I Duat,  306 
j Du  qau,  town,  23 
Durra,  435 

Duties  of  children,  319 
Dwarfs,  410 


Earrings,  228 
Earn,  fields  of,  306,  317 
'Ebana,  admiral,  118 
Ebers  papyrus,  357 
'Ech’e,  treasurer,  473 
Edfu,  temple,  20 

town,  16,  260  f. , 272 
Education,  164  f. 
of  officers,  530 
of  princes,  77 
of  working  classes,  126 
high  esteem  of,  328,  548,  550 
Effigies,  355 

Egypt,  aspect,  12,  15  ; chronology,  36  ff. ; divi- 
sions, 15;  government,  79  ff. ; history  of, 
36  ff. ; landscape,  14  ; extent,  15  ; sources 
of  information,  4 

Lower,  16  f. , 26  ft’.,  80  f. , 194  ; government 
of,  83  ; fortifications  of,  83  f. ; marshes  of, 
235  ff-.  424.  439.  480 
1 Egyptian  influence  on  Syria,  519 
; Egyptians,  character,  33  f. ; civilisation,  34  f . ; 

colour,  30  ; ethnology,  29  ; language,  30  ; 
I legal  status,  147;  morality,  134;  physical 


INDEX 


555 


form,  33  ; Greek  ideas  of,  i f. ; social  condi- 
tions, 129 

Egyptian  words  used  in  Syria,  519 
Ehnas,  see  Chenensuten 
Eileithyia,  goddess,  20 
’Ekayta,  country,  465  f. 

'Eken'e,  dog,  173 
Electron,  461,  464 

Elephantine,  island,  11,  18,  393,  471,  498 
El  Kab  (Nechebt  or  Nechent),  20,  90,  103,  139, 
416,  504 

Ellesieh,  temple,  503 
'Emam,  country,  499 
Embassy,  royal,  473,  475 
Embroidery,  193,  199 

Employment  of  military  officers  in  times  of  peace, 

55° 

of  soldiers  in  mines  and  quarries,  523 
Emset,  son  of  Osiris,  317 
'Emtgse,  queen,  142 
Enamel,  462 
Enclosures,  temple,  283 
Endowments,  temple,  299  ff. 

tomb,  324  f. 

'En'eugsa,  town,  299 

’Eney,  proverbs  of,  135,  165  f.,  256,  272  f.,  318, 

384 

Engineering  works,  530 
'Enit  (Esneh),  town,  20 
’Ennana,  scribe,  109  ff. , 115 
'Entef,  king,  41,  160,  244,  386 
'Entef,  treasurer,  474 
’Epet,  temple,  21  (see  Karnak) 

Epic  poetry,  394 
Epithets  of  the  gods,  263 
'Epuat,  festival  of,  278 
’Epuat,  god,  145,  291,  498 
Equipment  of  soldiers,  524 
Erment,  town,  20 
Ertet,  country,  499 
’Ersu,  king,  49 
Eshuranib  quarries,  463 
Esneh,  see  'Enit. 

’Ess'e,  king,  39,  100,  165,  221,  473,  485 

Estates  of  temples,  283 

'Eten,  god,  45,  262 

Ethiopia  (Cush),  50,  499,  501,  321  ff. 

'Eute,  sculptor,  414  f. 

Expeditions,  Asiatic,  299 

military,  of  the  N.E. , 527 
predatory,  523 
to  Punt,  22,  510 
Extradition  agreement,  536 
’Ey,  priest  and  king,  46,  119  ff. , 153,  180  f. 

Faience,  458  f. 

Fairy  tales,  370,  392,  507  ff. 

False  doors,  31 1,  314 
Family  affection,  139 
life,  130  ff. 
life  of  king,  74 

Fan-bearers,  64  f. , 73,  119,  488 
Fancy  cattle,  437 
Farafrah,  town,  84 
Fashion  in  dress,  201  ff. 

in  food,  188  f. 

Fattening  of  antelopes,  442 
of  birds,  442 
of  cattle,  438,  444 
Fauna,  240  ff. 


Feast  of  Eternity,  246 
Felling  of  trees,  432  f. 

Fertility  of  the  Nile  Valley,  423 
Festival  of  ’Epuat,  278 
of  Min,  432 

of  Ptah-Sokaris-Osiris,  277 
of  the  garden,  194 
of  the  king’s  accession,  65 
Festivals,  food  for,  278 
Feudal  system,  106 
Feyum,  25  f. 

Fields  of  Earu,  306,  317 
of  the  Blessed,  317 
Fig  trees,  196  f. , 199 
Figure-heads,  482  f. , 540 
First-fruits,  harvest,  245,  272,  432 
Fish  dealers,  239,  494 

ponds,  196,  239,  288 
Fishing,  238,  401 
Flag-staves,  280,  287,  393 
Flax,  448  ff. 

Flora,  1 1 

Flowers,  love  of,  193  f. 

Flutes,  253 
Food,  188 

for  festivals,  278 
for  the  dead,  310,  317,  323 
Foreign  countries,  382 
remedies,  359 
skins,  430 
trade,  498  ff. 
wood,  452 

woods,  importation  of,  517 
Foreigners,  Egyptian  representation  of,  51 
naturalisation  of,  517,  543 
Fortification  of  the  frontiers,  526,  537 
Fortresses  of  the  M.  E.,  526 
of  the  N.E. , 333 
Fortress  of  Assuan,  526 
of  Dapuru,  333 
of  Semneh.  525  f. 
of  Taru,  515,  533,  537  f. 
siege  of  a,  526,  533 
Fortune-telling,  375,  376,  379 
Foxes,  241 

Friends  of  the  king,  72,  371 
Frontier  regulations,  538 
Frontiers,  fortification  of,  526 
Funeral,  320  ff. 

Funerary  duties,  157 
festival,  246 
furniture,  312 
priest,  147 
temples,  22 

worship,  309,  31 1,  325 
Furniture,  183  ff. 

funerary,  312,  453 
Future  life,  306  ff. 


Gardening,  landscape,  193 
Gardens,  173,  193  ff. 
of  temples,  288 

Gate,  as  the  seat  of  judgment,  140 
Gaza,  town,  515 
Gazelle,  nome  of,  523,  527 
Gazelles,  241 

Gebel  Barkal,  500,  504  (see  Napata) 
Doshe,  temple,  503 
Selseleh,  471  (see  Bilsileh) 
Geese,  238,  442  ff. 


556 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


Genealogies,  157  f. 

of  artists,  416 
Geometry,  367 
Gerf  Husen,  temple,  503 
Gilding,  462 
Gizeh,  town,  170 

pyramids,  26,  39,  17 1,  325  f. , 41 1 
Glass  blowing,  459 
making,  458 
Glazing,  458  f. 

Gleaning,  430 
Glue,  4SS 

Goats,  403,  441,  452 

Gods  : great  god,  58,  260  ; good  god,  58  ; town 
and  local  gods,  259  ; one  only  god,  261  ; cycle 
of  gods,  260  ; titles  of  gods,  58,  265  f.  ; costume 
of  gods,  60  ff. , 226,  263,  264 ; family  and 
harem  of  gods,  260,  284,  296  ; house  of  the 
god,  279  ; toilette  of  the  god,  273  f.  ; palace 
of  the  god,  267  ; death  of  the  god,  272  ; tomb, 
278  ; legends  of  the  gods  (see  Mythology)  ; 
statues  of  the  gods,  263,  272  ff. , 300,  409,  460 
Gold  districts,  298 

mines,  41,  463  ff. 
rings  of,  464 

the,  a decoration,  118,  120 
smelting,  464 
weighing,  464 
Goldsmiths,  460  f. 

Goshen,  land  of,  27,  526 
Government  of  Upper  Egypt,  82  f. 
of  the  Delta,  83  f. 

Governor,  the,  69,  87  f. , 97,  107  f. , 130  ff. , 139, 

473.  475.  533 
Grammar,  343 
Granaries,  107  f. , 433  f. 

superintendence  of,  108 
Grandfather,  position  of  maternal,  156 
Granite,  red,  18,  413 
black,  472 
Grapes,  197 
Grappling  irons,  542 

Great  men  of  the  South  (title),  72,  81  ff. , 88,  90, 
106  f. , 290 

Greek  Islands,  communication  with,  513 

Greengrocers,  495 

Grotto  tombs,  313,  314,  319 

Groups,  sculptured,  412 

Gurnah  or  Qurna,  temple,  22,  398 

Gymnastic  games,  245 


Hadrian,  51 
Hair,  163,  232 

dressing,  O.E.,  218  ff.,  223;  M.E.,  221  ff.  ; 
N.E. , 223 

Hall  of  judgment,  308 
Halls,  hypostyle,  281,  287 

Hammamat  (Rehanu)  quarries,  22,  381,  472  ff. , 
506 

Hand-barrows,  238 
Handicrafts,  447 

Hapd'efa’e,  nomarch,  292  ; contracts  of,  145, 
497 

Hape,  son  of  Osiris,  317 
Harbours,  15 

Hardadaf,  son  of  Chufu,  373,  386 
Hardships  of  gold-miners,  463 
Harems,  152  f. , 182,  247  ; harem  of  the  king,  74, 
76,  142  ff.  ; of  the  god,  295  f.  ; life  in  the,  232  f. ; 
officers  of  the,  74 


Harem  conspiracy,  55,  76,  142  f. 

Har-em-heb,  king,  46,  412 
Harmachis,  65,  261 
Harness,  492 
Harper,  song  of,  386 
Harps,  252 
Harris  papyrus,  299  f. 

Harvest  of  corn,  429  ff. 
of  durra,  435 
first-fruits,  272 
gathering  in  of  the,  in 
governor  of  the  royal,  85 
report  of  the,  108 
song,  385 
thanksgiving,  432 
Hataru,  queen,  see  Chnemtamun 
Hathor,  capital  of  pillar,  421 
destroys  mankind,  268 

goddess,  23,  159,  245,  259,  267  ff.,  290,512 
of  Punt,  51 1 f. 
of  Sinai,  468  f. 

Hathors,  fortune-telling,  376 
Hat-Nub  quarries,  470 
Hat-Ra’-shetp-eb,  town,  92 
Ha'tshepsu,  queen,  see  Chnemtamun 
Hat-uar  (Avaris),  fortress,  28  ; town,  41  f.,  102 
Head  dresses,  228 
rests,  184,  312 
Heart  scarabaeus,  315 
weighing  of,  309 

Hebrew  poetry,  comparison  with,  394 
Heliopolis  (On),  town,  27,  68,  348,  539 

high  priest  of,  76,  83,  89,  290,  295,  296,  374 
property  of  the  temple  of,  303 
Helmets,  545 
Henu,  treasurer,  506 
Heqerneheh,  nurse  or  tutor,  77 
Heqt,  goddess,  82,  290,  374 
Herakleopolis,  see  Chenensuten 
Herdsmen,  439,  440 
Hereditary  art,  416 
offices,  290 
priesthood,  292 

Hermonthis  (Erment,  On  of  Mont),  town,  20,  393 

Hermopolis,  see  Chmunu 

Herodotos,  1,  4,  15,  25,  33,  51,  218 

Hes-uar,  town,  84 

Hieratic  writing,  339 

Hieroglyphics,  333  ff. 

Hieroglyphs  (ornamental  character  of),  338 
High  esteem  of  education,  550 

priests,  71,  72,76!.,  83,  107,  21 1,  290,  294, 
295,  296,  298  note,  475 
of  Amon,  107,  290,  294,  409,  475 
of  Heliopolis,  76,  83,  89,  290,  295,  296, 
374.  521 

of  Memphis,  49,  71,  77,  107,  295,  296 
415 

Hippopotamus,  239  f. 

History,  36  ff. , 348 
Hoeing,  428 
Hoes,  428 

Holy  of  Holies,  275,  281 
Home-trade,  494  ff. 

Hoopoes,  238 
Horse,  introduction  of,  443 
Horses,  490  ff. , 493 
foreign,  517 
for  riding,  493 
for  ploughing,  428  note 
names  of,  492 


INDEX 


557 


Horses,  harness  for,  491 
superintendent  of,  548 

Horus,  god,  16,  20,  44  f. , 66,  163,  261,  270, 
282,  320,  465 
myth  of,  270  ff. 
of  Coptos,  475 
of  the  East,  261 
of  Nubia,  503 

signifying  the  king,  56  f. , 62 
signifying  lord  of  the  palace,  77,  290  note 
and  Set  ditto,  74 
Household  remedies,  362 

Houses,  167  ff.  ; country  houses,  168,  174  f.  ; 
town  houses,  169,  182  ; village  houses,  168  ; 
interior  of  the  house,  173  f. ; exterior,  174  ; ser- 
vants’offices,  177;  ventilation  of  houses,  175 
Houses  of  priests,  288 
Hrihor,  high  priest  and  king,  30 
Human  figure,  conventional  treatment  of,  398 
Hunting,  235  ff. 

Hurenkaru,  town,  299 
Huy,  governor,  501  f. 

Hyaenas,  241 

Hyksos,  28,  40  ff. , 102,  1 18,  138,  500 
statues,  41 1 
Hymn  to  Amon,  391 
to  Osiris,  390 
to  the  Nile,  391 
Hypostyle  halls,  281,  287 


Ibex,  240,  243 

Identification  of  gods  with  Re‘,  260 
Illness  of  Re‘,  265 
Imhotep  (demigod),  357,  386 
Immigration  of  northern  barbarians,  517 
Importation  of  cattle,  443 

of  foreign  words,  42,  517 
of  skins,  450 
Imports,  Nubian,  498  ff. 

Syrian,  516  ff. 

Incantations,  353  f. 

Incense,  507,  509,  510,  516 

countries  (see  Divine  Land  and  Punt),  505  ff. 
trees,  194  f.,  513,  514 
Incursion  of  Libyan  tribes,  539  ff. 

Industrial  arts,  423  f. 

Infantry,  393,  546,  549 

Inheritance  of  property,  91  f. , 93;  through  a 
daughter,  156  f. 
of  office,  156 

of  the  priesthood,  290,  292,  294 
Inlaid  work,  456,  462 
Inscriptions,  decorative,  283 
dedicatory,  393 
tomb,  311,  315 
Insignia,  73,  274 
royal,  60  ff. 

Inspection  of  cattle,  441 
Instructions,  proverbs,  163,  384 
Intercourse  with  Syria,  514 
Inundation,  9 ff. , 13,  425  f. , 500 
as  a festival  season,  250 
Iron,  461,  462 
Irrigation,  13,  426,  350 

Isis,  goddess,  154,  260,  320,  348,  374,  463,  475 
myth  of,  263  ff. , 270  ff. , 448 


Jackals,  241 

Jewelry,  118;  crown  jewels,  109;  royal  jewels,  81 


Jewels  of  Queen  Ahhotep,  461  f. 

Joiners,  455  f. 

Joppa,  town,  515 
Joseph,  103 

Journey  of  mummy  to  Abydos,  320 

Jubilee  of  king's  reign,  65,  278 

Judge,  chief,  72,  82,  87,  97,  107,  138  f. , 522  ; 

costume  of,  2 1 1 
Judges  of  the  dead,  309 
Justice,  administration  of,  87  ff. 


Ka,  double  or  genius,  307  ff.,  322 
Ka-priests,  324 
Kaau,  country,  499 
Kadesh,  town,  44 

battle  of,  48,  392,  528,  530  f. 

Ka-en-Qemet,  vineyard,  197 
Kagemn'e,  governor,  81,  88 
Kak,  temple,  148  (see  Der-el-Medineh) 

Karnak,  temple,  21  f.,  281,  412,  416,  471 
Kasr  Saiyad,  tombs,  90 
Kat'ana,  charioteer,  492,  527,  347 
Keneh,  town,  22,  506  ; ware  of,  457 
King  : costume,  59  ff. , 209  ; ornaments,  59  ff. , 
62  ff. , 209  ff. , 226;  titles,  56  ff.  ; hair  and 
head-dress,  39  ; crown  and  insignia,  60  ; daily 
life,  67  ; as  private  individual,  73  ; as  divinity, 
57  f. , 60,  73  f . , 76,  77,  303  ; as  mediator  for 
the  country  in  the  temple,  67  f. , 273,  282  f.  ; 
duties  towards  country  and  gods,  67  ff.  ; mother 
of  the  king,  74  ; sons  of  the  king,  76  f. ; priests 
of  the  king,  290 
Kitchens,  189 
Kohl,  230 

Koptos  (Qobte),  22  f.,  462,  474,  475,  506,  507 

Kumneh,  503 

Kyphi,  perfume,  232  f. 


Labourers,  agricultural,  13,  445,  476 
Lakes,  artificial,  196,  239,  -288 
Lamps,  145,  322 
Lasso,  243 
Laws,  14 1 

Lawsuits,  114,  130  ff,  142 
Learning,  reverence  for,  328,  348,  550 
Leather-making,  450  f. 

Legal  tenders,  497 
Letter-carriers,  494 
Letter  of  Nechtsotep,  380 
Letter-writing,  115,  384 
Libations,  289 
Libyan  courtiers,  106 
names  of  dogs,  244 
dynasty  of  kings,  31,  158,  282 
tribes,  incursion  of,  539 
Libyans,  49,  50,  31,  370,  539  f. 

Limestone,  8,  469  f. 

Linen,  in,  300,  448 
coarse,  217,  448 

transparent,  203  f.,  212,  215,  216,  448 
Litanies,  389 
Literary  style,  380 
Local  gods,  259 
Looms,  449 

Lotus  flowers,  235,  238,  423  f. 

Love  of  animals,  436 
Love  songs,  387  ff. 

Lucky  and  unlucky  days,  351  f. 

Lutes,  253 


558 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


Luxor  temple,  21  f. , 471 
Lyres,  253 
Lyric  poetry,  389 


Ma'at,  goddess,  82,  139 

priests  of,  139,  21 1,  290 
Mad'ay,  regiment  of,  543 
Magic  art,  266,  352  f. , 374 
Magical  books,  143 
jewels,  62 

figures,  143,  317,  355 
formulae,  308  ff.,  353  ff.,  356,  357 
Magicians,  573  f. 

Mahmudijeh  canal,  476 
M‘aket-'eten,  princess,  120 
Malachite,  468 

Manifestation  of  gods  in  animals,  260 
Mantillas,  206,  209 
Maps,  papyri,  466  f. 

Mar'eayu,  Libyan  prince,  539 
Mariette,  41 1 

Maritime  nations,  battle  with,  541  f. 

Markets  or  bazaars,  494  ff. 

Marriage,  131  f. 

contracts,  153  f. 

of  Ramses  II.  with  a Cheta  princess,  537 
with  a sister,  153 
Marsh-birds,  236 
Marsh-folk,  2 it,  439 
Marshes  of  Delta,  235  ff. , 424,  439,  480 
Mastabah  tombs,  26  ff. , 310,  312,  319 
Masts,  481  ff. 

Ma'tcha',  princess,  78 
Materials,  building,  417 
woven,  hi 
for  sculpture,  413 
Mathematics,  364 
Matoi,  soldiers,  544 
Mats,  plaiting  of,  447  (see  Carpeting) 

Meals,  193 
M'e'am,  town,  504  f. 

Measures  of  value,  496,  497 
Med'a,  country,  499 
Medical  books,  357 
Medicine,  337  ff. 

of  Middle  Ages,  363 
Medinet  Habu,  182  f. 
palace  of,  398,  422 
smaller  temple  of,  281 

temple  and  village,  22,  182  f. , 275,  277, 
47i 

Memphis  (Mennufer),  town,  26,  38,  50,  170  f. 
burial  field  of,  310 
government  of,  107 

high  priest  of,  49,  71,  77  f. , 107,  295,  296,  415 
temple  of,  303  f. 

Menageries,  243 

Men'at  Chufu,  town,  24,  91,  306 
Mendes  (Ded),  town,  27,  84 
Menes,  king,  15  f. , 23,  37,  326 
MenkerS'  (Mykerinos),  king,  39,  78,  170  f.,  319 
Mennufer,  see  Memphis 
Ment'uhotep,  judge,  88,  141 
king,  41,  473,  306 
Menzaleh,  lake,  15 
Mercenaries,  103  f. , 521,  342 
arms  of,  546 
chiefs  of,  234,  illus. 
regiments  of,  544 
Mer-'eb,  prince,  86,  399 


Merenptah,  king,  48  f.,  106,  393,  338  ff. , 544 

Merenre',  king,  83,  164,  499 

Mertesen,  painter,  415 

Meryatum,  prince,  49 

Meryma't,  palace,  66 

Meryre',  high  priest,  177 

Meryt-'eten,  princess,  120 

Mesd'emt,  cosmetic,  230 

Mesechent,  goddess,  374 

Metal-workers,  447,  439 

Metal-working,  459  ff. 

Metals,  source  of,  462  f. 

Mete-en-sa  (priest),  292 
Metrical  poetry,  395 
Migration  of  tribes,  340 
Milch  cows,  438 

Military  expeditions  of  the  N.  E. , 527 

officers,  employment  of,  in  times  of  peace, 
55° 

profession,  drawbacks  to,  549 
Militia  of  the  nomes,  94,  521,  542 
of  the  temples,  295,  304 
Min,  god,  23  f. , 65  ff. , 243,  473  ff. , 506 
dances  of,  66 
festival  to,  432 
Mines,  copper,  467  f. 

gold,  41,  463  ff. 

Mistress  of  the  house,  132  ff. 

Mitrahine,  village,  26 
Models  of  food,  317 
of  tools,  434 
Moeris,  lake,  26,  41 
Monkeys,  tame,  199  ; as  pets,  243 
Monotheism,  261  ; of  Chuen  eten,  262 
Mont,  god,  20,  259,  394 
Mortar,  419 
Moses,  books  of,  4 
Mother,  153 
royal,  74 

Mounted  officers,  539 
Mud  buildings,  417 
Mule,  introduction  of,  443 
Mules,  492 

Mummies  of  the  O.  E. , 312 
of  the  N.E.,  313 
Mummy  chamber,  313 
Musical  instruments,  231  ff. 

Music,  superintendent  of,  250 
Musicians,  female,  132,  252,  295 
Mutenr,  king  of  the  Cheta,  47 
Mut,  goddess,  267 
temple  of,  281 

Myth  of  Osiris,  269,  309,  379 
of  Re',  264  ff. 


Nacht,  prince,  92 

Naharanna  country,  76,  108,  513,  328 
prince  of,  377 

Names,  158  ff.  ; pet,  161  ; change  of,  144,  161, 
262  ; surnames,  158  ; religious,  160  ; royal, 
56  ; to  cause  the  name  to  live,  162  ; to  root  out 
the  name,  162  f. , 262  fi,  327  ; secret,  of  the 
gods,  263  ff. , 354  f. ; of  temples,  284  ff. ; of 
places,  99  f. ; of  ships,  483,  487,  542  ; of  dogs, 
244  ; of  oxen,  436  ; of  horses,  492 
Naos  or  shrine,  274,  275 
Napata,  town,  50,  300,  303  f. 

Naturalisation  of  foreigners,  517,  543 
Naturalistic  art,  400,  404 
Nature,  descriptions  of,  392 


INDEX 


559 


Naval  battle,  540 
Nechebt,  goddess,  16,  20 
town,  20,  90 
Nechert,  town,  90,  139 

judge  belonging  to  the  town  of,  87,  90,  139 
Necho,  king,  27,  36,  51 
Nechtsotep,  letter  of,  380  ff. 

Necklets,  227 

Necropolis,  90,  310  ff. ; government  of  the,  131  ff. ; 
workmen  of  the,  124  ff. ; walls  of  the, 
126  ; police  of  the,  131 
of  Abydos,  313 

of  Dra-abul-nega,  304  f. , 304  note,  444 
of  Memphis,  90,  310 
of  Thebes,  314 
Nedyt,  town,  278 
Neferhotep,  song  of,  387 
Neferteyte,  queen,  46 
Negative  confession,  309 

Negroes  (nehes),  498,  301  ff. , 522,  544,  546; 
negro  princes,  501,  504  ; negro  village,  502  ; 
negroes  of  Punt,  507 
Neher’e,  governor,  92 
Nehy,  governor,  503 

Neighbouring  nations,  characteristics  of,  520 
Neit,  goddess,  27,  259,  290 
Nephthys,  154,  270,  374 
Nesamun,  scribe,  131  ff. 

Neshmet  bark,  320 
Nesmenau,  physician,  357 
Nets,  bird,  236  f. 
fishing,  328 
for  hunting,  242  note 
making  of  nets,  450 
New  Empire,  rise  of,  42 
New  Year's  Day,  146,  148,  351 
New  Year’s  presents,  121 
Nile,  god,  425 

Nile,  the,  7 ff. , 26,  479  ; government  of  the  Nile 
departments,  83,  91  ; measurement  of  the 
height  of  the  Nile,  500 
hymns  to  the,  391 

Nile-valley,  9 ff.  ; fertility  of  the,  423 
Nine  bows,  barbarian  tribes,  321,  543 
Nobility,  99,  102 
Nofret,  213 

Nomarchs,  80,  90  f. , 98,  102,  106  note,  139 
as  priests,  291,  292 
costume  of  the,  226,  234 
property  of  the,  93,  147 
succession  of  the,  91  ff. 

Npmes,  government  of,  17  ff. , 94 
militia  of,  521,  342 
princes,  291 
treasury  of,  94 

Northern  barbarians,  immigration  of,  517 
Nubch'as,  queen,  132 
Nubia,  7,  1 8,  41  f. , 103 
administration  of,  303 
aspect  of,  502 
colonisation  of,  499 
history  of,  498  ff. 
temples  in,  500,  303 
trade  with,  498  ff. 
tribute  from,  501  f. 
viceroys  of,  504 
Nubit,  town,  see  Ombos 
Nun,  god,  265,  267,  320 
Nurse,  royal  tutor,  77 
Nursery,  164 
Nut,  goddess,  267,  269 


Oars,  481  ff. 

Oases,  1 16,  197 
Obelisks,  280,  381,  393,  472 
Ode  to  Thothmes  III.,  392,  396 
Offerings  to  the  gods,  272  f. , 277  b,  288,  432, 
474,  509  ; royal  offering,  308,  323  ; list  of  offer- 
ings, 188,  277  ; table  of  offerings,  312,  314,  cp. 
altar;  funerary  offerings,  188,  307  f. , 31 1,  see 
Funerary  worship ; offerings  of  incense,  see 
Incense 

Officers,  86,  113,  523  f. , 546,  349  f. 
mounted,  493,  539 
of  the  chariot  force,  548  f. 
of  workmen,  128,  529,  538 
Officials  and  their  life,  96  ff.,  113,  116 
career  of  an,  85 
court,  99,  106,  121 
list  of,  381 

rise  of  the  subordinate,  97 
their  education,  329  ff. , 333  f. 

Official  staff  of  temple,  292 
Oil,  229  ff. , 509,  516 
Ointment,  231  f. , 235,  405 
cakes  of,  231 
overseer  of  the,  63,  231 
Old  Empire,  statues  of,  400 
Olive  tree  (dgam),  232,  360 
Ombos,  town,  18,  260 
On,  see  Heliopolis 

On  of  Mont  (Hermonthis  or  Erment),  town,  20, 
393 

Ophthalmia,  362 

Origin  of  patterns,  423,  424 

Orion,  271,  348 

Ornamental  character  of  architecture,  422  f. 
of  hieroglyphs,  338 

of  objects  of  art,  423  f. , 452,  433  note, 
457 

Ornaments,  227,  247 
Orontes,  river,  48,  528  ff. 

Orthography,  change  of,  262 
Osiris,  god,  23,  40,  44  fi,  154,  239,  308,  320, 
4^5 

festival  of,  278  f. 

hymn  to,  390 

myth  of,  269,  309,  379 

spread  and  influence  of  his  w'orship,  260, 
3°9 

sons  of,  317 
tomb  of,  278,  309 
Ostraca,  497 

Oxen,  breeding  of,  436,  443  ff. 
yoke  for,  445 


PAEBPASA,  scribe,  538,  348  f. 

Pahripedt,  captain,  117 
Pahri,  nurse  or  tutor,  77 
Painters  belonging  to  temples,  416 
Painting,  282 

in  relation  to  relief,  397  f. 
of  statues,  413 
of  wood  and  stone,  452 
Palace  of  king,  69,  182 

of  Medinet  Habu,  182  f. , 398,  422 
Palestine,  514 

Egyptian  influence  in,  318  and  note  ; cp. 
Syria 

Panelling,  423 
Panthers,  242 

skin,  203,  297 


560 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


Paper,  447 

Papier  macW,  or  cartonage,  312,  315,  456 
Papyrus,  12,  16  f. , 235  ; as  an  armorial  bearing, 
17  ; boats,  479  f.  ; various  uses  of,  447  ; 
writing  on,  337  ff.,  369,  447 
Anastasi,  380 
Ebers,  357 
Harris,  299  f. 

Rhind,  364 

Parallelism  of  phrases,  394 
Parchment,  450 

Pare-'emheb,  superintendent  of  the  house  of 
silver,  109,  115 
Paser'a,  prince,  130  ff. 

Paser,  prince,  130  ff. 

Pasht,  goddess,  92 
Pastes,  coloured,  458 
Pasture,  439 
Patterns,  coloured,  448 
decorative,  423 
derived  from  matting,  422 
origin  of,  423,  424 
Payments,  bills  of,  123,  497 
Pe  (Buto),  town,  84,  270,  279 
Peger  (Abydos),  278 
Peh-er-nefr,  statue  of,  410 
Pelusium,  town,  28 
Pennut,  tomb  of,  504 
Pentauert,  scribe,  393  note 

Pepy,  king,  39  f. , 40,  83,  142,  170,  318,  468, 
470  f. , 473,  499,  521  f.  ; town  of  king 
Pepy,  170 
son  of  Dauuf,  384 
Perfumes,  232 
Period  (Sothic),  351 
Pet  animals,  243,  244,  444 
Peten  (country),  370 
Pharaoh  Necho,  27,  36,  51 
Philae,  island,  18 
Phoenician  towns,  382 

magical  formulae,  355 
remedies,  359 
Phoenicians,  515 

costume  of,  518  note 
at  court,  106 

Phoenix  (Benu),  271,  344 
Phonetic  writing,  335 
Phrases,  parallelism  of,  394 
Physicians,  319 
Pictures,  battle,  406  ff. 

caricature,  155,  230,  233,  439,  518,  520 
tomb,  31 1 
Pigs,  429,  441,  443 
Pillar,  Ded,  278,  356 
Pillars,  capitals  of,  420 
decoration  of,  419 
of  verandahs,  422 
wooden,  419 
Pilots,  483,  487 
Pirates,  49  f. 

Pithom,  town,  27 
Plaited  baskets,  448 
mats,  447 
Plastic  arts,  397  ff. 

Plot  of  mankind  against  Re‘,  267 
Ploughing,  428 
Ploughshare,  427 
Plurality  of  appointments,  305 
Poem  of  Pentauert,  393  note 
Poetry,  385  ff. 

antithetical,  395 


Poetry,  ballad,  385 
epic,  394 
lyric,  389 
metrical,  395 
Police,  130  ff. , 149,  542 
Polygamy,  151  f. 

Polytheism,  261 
Pomade,  232 
Popular  songs,  385 
Population,  17 
Portrait  statues,  409 
Position  of  stars,  349 
Postal  arrangements,  493  f. 

Potsherds,  457 
Pottery,  457  f. 

Predatory  expeditions,  523 
Prehistoric  period,  34  f. , 259  ff. , 279  f. 
Prescriptions,  340,  358 
Priestesses,  132,  291,  295 

Priesthood,  82,  104  f.  ; under  the  O.  E. , 82,  289 
ff.  ; under  the  M.E.,  104,  291  ff.  ; under  the 
N.E. , 71,  104,  293  ff. , 297  f.  ; costume  of  the, 
206,  219,  297  ; dwellings  of  the,  288  ; heredi- 
tary, 290,  292,  294  ; salaries  of  the,  293  ; rise 
of  the,  293  ; degrees  of  rank  of  the,  293  ; of 
Anton,  294 

Priest-kings,  art  under  the,  409 
Priestly  artists,  415 
titles,  289  ff. 

Priests  of  the  ka,  324  ; cp.  high  priests  and  pro- 
phets 

Princes,  69,  72,  76  f. , 86,  371  f. , 473 
costume  of,  229 
of  the  nomes,  291 
palace  of,  77  f. , 371 
Princesses,  78,  279 
Prisoners,  106,  128,  299 
Prison,  temple,  304 
Privy  councillors,  88 
Procession,  royal,  64,  278  f. 

Proclamation  of  king,  66 
Proletariat,  154 

Property,  royal,  107  ; state,  81  ; superintendence 
of,  100 

Prophets,  82,  289,  292 
Protocol,  55,  1 12 
Proto-doric  pillars,  419 
Proverbs  of  'Eney,  see  'Eney 
Provinces,  see  Nomes 
Provincial  art,  402 
Psammetichus,  27,  39,  50  f. , 326 
Pseudonyms  used  in  lawsuits,  55.  142,  144 
Ptah,  god,  259,  274,  291,  334,  384,  415,  465, 
5°3.  539 

temple  of,  26,  170 
patron  of  artists,  415  f. 

Ptah-hotep,  judge,  88,  115 
Ptahshepses,  courtier,  70,  78 
Ptah-Sokaris-Osiris,  festival  of,  277 
Ptolemy,  51 
Punishments,  141 
Puns,  396 

Punt,  country,  505  ff. 

expedition  to,  22,  510 
people  of,  511 
trade  with,  505  ff. , 510 
treasures  of,  512,  514 
Purasat£,  people,  540 
Pylons,  280,  393 
Pyramid  temples,  326 
Pyramids,  26,  39,  171,  325  f. , 411,  471 


INDEX 


561 


Pyramids  of  the  Theban  kings,  13 1 ff. 
of  private  individuals,  314 

Qagabu,  scribe,  66,  109  ff. , 115  f. 

Qamh  bread,  188 

Qasr  Sayad,  see  Kasr  Sayad. 

Qau,  see  Duqau 

Qeb,  god,  267,  269,  271 

Qebhsneuf,  son  of  Osiris,  317 

Qede,  country,  370,  515,  528,  537,  540 

O&met,  black  country  or  Egypt,  32 

Qem-uer,  Bitter  Lakes,  370,  526 

Qemy,  ointment,  231 

Qenqen-taue,  place,  116  f. 

Qoesr,  harbour,  506 
Quarries,  469  ff. 

of  Assuan,  381,  471 
of  Eshuranib,  463 
of  Hammamcit,  381,  472 
of  Hatnub,  470 
of  Silsilis,  18,  471 
of  Syene,  18,  471 
ofTurah,  319,  470,  473 
Queen,  73,  229 
Qum  el  ah  mar,  24 
Qurnah  or  Gurnah  temple,  22,  398 
Qurna,  village,  138,  see  Gurnah 
Qus,  town,  22,  506 

Ra'eNUSKK,  king,  468 
Ra'hotep,  high  priest,  83  f. , 213 
Ramesseum,  battle-pictures  of,  529  ff. 

temple,  22,  126,  285,  471  f. , 475,  529 
Ramessides,  50 

Ramses  II.,  22,  27,  36,  48  ff. , 70,  76,  79,  103, 
138,  183,  243,  275,  381,  393,  398,  407, 
461,  465  {.,  471,  475  f.,  503  f.,  515,  527, 
53E  533  ff- 

III. ,  22,  49  f.,  52,  55,  70,  76,  106,  129,  142, 
183,  194,  197,  209,  275,  281,  282,  285, 
299.  302,  303,  398,  469,  493,  514,  515, 
54°.  544 

IV. ,  475  f- 

IX. ,  105,  130 

X. ,  137 

town,  27,  48,  169  f. , 534 
Ra'na'e'onch,  physician,  357 
Ra'nofru,  princess,  77 
Ra'sqenen,  king,  138 
Re',  adorations  of,  390 

god,  25,  44  f.,  374,  379,  393,  465,  503,  505 
ancestor  of  the  kings,  56  f. , 374 
as  the  name  of  the  kings,  63,  66  f. 
illness  of,  265 
myth  of,  264  ff. 
plot  of  mankind  against,  267 
Harmachis,  god,  45,  384 
Realistic  style  of  decoration,  422 
Reception,  triumphal,  of  Ramses  II.,  533 
Recitation  of  formulae,  273 
Reciter-priests,  66,  77,  90,  289,  373 
of  Osiris,  292 
of  Amon,  294 
Recreation,  234  ff. 

Reddedt,  priestess,  374  ff. 

Red  scribe  of  Louvre,  the,  410 
Reformation  of  Chuen'eten,  262,  263,  305,  327 
Regiment  of  the  Mad'ay,  543 
Regiments,  arms  of  the  different,  545 
clothing  of  the  different,  545 
named  after  the  gods,  528,  544 


Regiments  of  mercenaries,  544 
Regulations  for  the  frontier,  538 
Rehanu,  see  Hammamat 
Relatives,  royal,  78 
Relief,  various  styles  of,  397  f. 

relation  of  painting  to,  397  f. 

Reliefs,  painted,  314 
Religion,  44,  259  ff. 

attempt  to  reform  the,  261  ff. 

Religious  teachers,  347 
Renaissance  of  art,  406 
Renenutet,  goddess,  273,  433 
Revenues  of  the  temples,  300  f. , 303 
Reverence  for  learning,  328 
Rhetorical  style,  372 
Rhind  papyrus,  364 
Riding,  490,  492  f. 

Rings,  228 

Rise  of  the  priesthood,  293 
Robbery  of  the  tombs,  325 
Robes  of  office,  21 1 
Rock  tombs,  312  ff. , 319 
Romances  or  tales,  5,  369  ff. 

Rope-making,  450 
Rouge,  229,  274 
Rowing,  480  ff. 

Royal  charioteers,  492,  527,  547,  548 
gifts,  273,  298,  299,  300,  323 
stables,  294,  330,  380,  548 
statues,  409,  41 1 

tombs,  violation  of,  130  ff. , 325  f. 

Rudders,  481  ff. 

Rugs,  173,  186 
Rush,  flowering,  16  f. 

papyrus,  see  Papyrus 

S'aanacht,  king,  46 
S'abu,  high  priest,  99  f. 

Sachebu,  town,  374 
Sacred  books,  264,  343 
trees,  348 

Sacrifices,  322  ff. , 474,  507 
royal,  66 

Sacrificial  animals,  287,  322,  402,  509 
Saddles,  490 

Sag,  fabulous  animal,  240,  242 
Sa'hure',  king,  59,  319 
Sai,  temple,  503 
Sails,  481  ff. 

Sais  (Sau),  town,  27,  85 

Sakkarah,  tombs,  312,  494  f.  (see  Mastabahs) 
Salaries,  121  f. 

of  priesthood,  293 
Sandals,  226  f. 
leather,  450 
papyrus,  447 
bearer  of,  227 

Sandstone,  7,  18,  471,  478  note 
Sangar  (Sindjar),  country,  515 
Sarbfit  elchadim,  mines,  468  f. 

Sarcophagus,  171,  172,  312,  313,  315,  326  ; cp. 
coffins 

Sawijet  el  Meitin,  tombs,  24,  40,  90,  452 
Sawing,  453 
Scarabaeus,  heart,  315 
School  books,  383 
course,  165,  329 
for  scribes,  329  ; literature,  329 
Scribes,  112  ff. , 329,  cp.  officials 
of  the  army,  113,  148,  550 
of  the  king,  113  f. , 550  note 


2 O 


562 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


Scribes  of  the  house  of  books,  164 
of  the  house  of  life,  475 
Sculpture,  409 

of  the  O.E. , of  the  M.  E. , of  the  N.E. , 411 
materials  for,  413 
technical  skill  in,  412  f. 

Sculptured  groups,  412 

Se'anchkere,  king,  506 

Seasons  of  the  year,  351 

Seat  of  government,  change  of,  169  f. 

Sebekemsaf,  king,  132  ff. 

Sebekhotep,  king,  57,  500 

Sechmet,  goddess,  260,  268,  412 

Sechmetnae'onch,  physician,  319,  357 

Secret  names  of  gods,  265,  354 

Seed,  sowing  and  trampling  in  of,  429 

Sefchet,  goddess,  348,  380 

SehurS,  see  Sa’hure1 

Sektet,  god,  268 

Sem,  priest,  297 

Semitic  slaves,  514,  517 

Semneh,  fortress,  41,  499,  503,  524,  525 

Semnut,  nurse  or  tutor,  43,  77 

Sent,  town,  84 

Sepet,  flower,  232 

Septah,  king,  55 

Seramun,  captain,  117 

Serdab,  312,  322 

Serfs,  100  f. , 187 

Servants’  household,  187  ff. 

Set  (Typhon),  god,  16,  20,  25,  27,  154,  269  ff. , 
272,  441 

as  god  of  war,  282 
as  Satan,  309 
Setnacht,  king,  49 

Sety  I. , 22,  47  ff. , 107,  138,  398,  407,  408,  465  ff. , 

492.  539.  544 
II.,  48,  66,  70,  no,  285 
Shabaka,  king,  50 
Shabd,  stick,  229 
Shaduf,  385,  427 
Shakarusha,  people,  49,  539,  540 
Shardana,  people,  49,  539,  540,  544 
Sharuhen,  town,  42 
Shaving,  218  f.,  225,  298 
Shedeh,  drink,  no,  257 
Shedet,  town,  26,  284 
Sheikh-el-beled,  statue  of,  410 
Sheikh  Said,  tombs,  90 

Shend'ot,  royal  skirt,  59  f. , 62  f. , 206,  210,  226, 
45i.  545  note 

Shepherd  kings,  see  Hyksos 
Shepseskaf,  king,  70,  78 
Shepsesr6‘,  221 
Shesh,  queen,  232 
Sheshonk,  king,  36,  50 
Shields,  524,  530,  546,  548,  55° 

Ships,  see  Boats 

Shirts,  men’s,  207  ; women’s,  212  f. 

Shoemakers,  451 
Shoes,  227 
Shrine,  see  Naos 
Shu,  god,  267 
Sickle,  429 

Sickle-shaped  sword,  527,  546 

Sidon,  town,  382 

Siege  of  a fortress,  526,  533 

Silsileh,  or  Silsilis  (Chenu),  7,  18,  471 

Silver,  461 

Silver  house,  the,  85  f. , 89,  97,  108  ff. , 448  f.  ; 
of  the  temple,  295  ; cp.  Treasury 


Sinai,  peninsula,  468  ff. 

mines  of,  505  ff. 

Singers,  252 

female,  295 
Sinuhe,  story  of,  370 
Sistrum,  279,  296,  390 
Siut  (Saut),  town,  23,  80  note,  91,  403,  497 
princes  of,  93,  98,  139,  145  ff. 
temple  of,  29T  ff. , 322 
tombs  of,  313 
ware  of,  457 
Skins,  450  ff. 

dressing  of,  451 
importation  of,  450 
Skirt  of  the  O.  E. , 201  f. 
of  the  M.  E. , 205  f. 
of  the  N.  E. , 207  ff. 
of  the  priests,  296 
of  the  kings  (see  Shend'ot) 

Slaves,  105  f. , 128,  187  f. , 216,  512,  517  ; of  the 
king,  105  f. , 197  ; of  the  temple,  299  f. , 303  ; 
foreign  slaves,  74,  187  f. , 514,  517;  galley 
slaves,  129 

Sledge,  to  carry  great  blocks,  477 
Slughi,  greyhounds,  242,  244 
Smelting  of  metal,  459 

Snefru,  king,  3,  35  ff. , 39,  83,  88,  157  f. , 196 
468  f. , 505 

Sobk  (Subk),  god,  18,  26,  45,  240 
temple  of,  284,  472 

Social  position  of  agricultural  labourer,  445 
of  goldsmiths,  460 
of  metal  workers,  446 
of  scribes,  328  f. , 548  ff. 
of  shoemakers,  451 
of  soldiers,  548  ff. 

Soil,  1 1 

Soldiers  under  the  O.E. , 521  ff.  ; under  the  M.E. , 
523  ff.  ; under  the  N.E. , 103,  113,  542  ff.  ; 
divisions  of  the  soldiers,  544  f. ; soldiers  of  the 
nomes,  94,  521,  542;  soldiers  of  the  temples, 
295,  304  ; soldiers  employed  to  drag  blocks  of 
stone,  475,  476,  506  f.,  523,  548,  550;  cp. 
Officers 

Soleb,  temple,  503  f. 

Song  of  Neferhotep,  387 
of  the  harper,  386 
of  the  sower,  385 
Songs,  popular,  385 
Sothic  period,  351 
Sothis,  dog-star,  271 

in  the  calendar,  348 
Soul,  transformation  of,  306 
of  men,  307 
of  gods,  267,  272 
Source  of  metals,  462  f. 

Sower,  song  of,  385 
Sowing,  429  (see  Seed) 

Spears,  234,  239 
Spearing  fish,  238 
Sphinx,  242 

temple  of  the,  41 1,  472 
Sphinxes,  avenues  of,  280 
Spice  islands,  fabulous  tales  of,  507  ff. 

Spindle,  450 
Spinning,  450 
Sport,  234  ff. 

Squadrons,  544 

Stables,  royal,  294,  330,  380  f. , 548 
Staff  of.  office,  229 
Stamping  of  bricks,  418 


INDEX 


563 


Standard-bearers,  128,  546,  550 
Standards,  488  note,  533,  546  f. 

Stars,  271,  349 

State,  twofold  division  of,  55  f. , 81 

State  religion,  273 

Statue  of  King  Chafre',  41 1 

of  Ramses  II.  at  Turin,  48,  412 
Statues,  architectural,  41 1 
Hyksos,  41 1 
of  gods,  275,  409 

of  the  ka,  307,  312,  313  f.,  315,  319,  322 
of  Old  Empire,  400 
painting  of,  413 
portrait,  409 
royal,  409,  41  x 
Statuettes,  bronze,  461 
Stelae,  313 
Sticks,  228  f. 

Stone,  transport  of,  475  ff. , 506  f. , 523,  548,  550 
Storehouses,  96,  187,  288 
Store-rooms,  179,  187,  281 
Stories  of  travel,  370 
Story  of  Ded’e,  373 
of  Sinuhe,  370 
Stove,  baker’s,  191 

metal-worker's,  446,  459 
potter’s,  457 
Strabo,  520 

Strategy,  science  of,  527 
Stucco,  414,  452 
Subk,  see  Sobk 

Succession  to  throne,  54,  156  f. 

Suez  Canal,  476 

Sun-bark,  259,  269,  270,  391 

Sun-disk  (’eten)  of  Chuen'eten,  45,  163,  262  f. ; 

temple  of  the  sun-disk,  285  ff. 

Sun-disk,  winged,  272 
Sun-god,  see  Re' 

Superstition,  352 
Sutech,  god,  41,  531,  536 
Sweet-water  canal,  476 
Syene  (Assuan),  town,  7,  18,  498,  500 
Syria,  conquest  of,  43  f. 
colonisation  of,  539 
Egyptian  influence  on,  519 
Egyptian  words  introduced  into,  519 
intercourse  with,  514 
travels  in,  381  ff. 
towns  of,  299 

Syrian  divinities  introduced  into  Egypt,  517 
goldsmiths,  299 
imports,  516 
slaves,  514,  517 
Syrians,  dresis  of,  217,  518 


Ta‘a,  king,  42,  102 
Table  of  offerings,  312,  314 
Tables,  184  f. 

Takekar,  people,  540 
Tale  of  the  doomed  prince,  376 
of  two  brothers,  378 
Tales,  fairy,  5,  369  ff. 

Tambourines,  249 

Tanis  (Zoan),  town,  16,  27,  40 

T'aru,  fortress  of,  28,  515,  533,  537  f. 

T'ate,  see  Governor 

Tatenen,  god,  65 

Tattooing,  230 

Taxes,  122  f. 

Teachers,  religious,  347 


Technical  skill  in  sculpture,  412  f. 

T’echse,  country,  118 
Tefnut,  goddess,  267,  274 
T’ehen,  people,  539 
T'ektana,  people,  116 
Tell  el  Amarna,  altar  of,  287 

town,  24,  46,  64  ; tombs,  177,  182,  285, 
422,  434,  444 
temple  of,  285  ff. , 287 
Temple,  the,  5,  279  ff. 
departments,  304 
enclosures,  285 

endowments,  104  f. , 275,  277,  299  ff. 

estates,  285 

gardens,  288 

inscriptions,  283  f. 

militia,  295,  304,  521,  544  note 

prisons,  304 

rations,  145  ff. 

of  Anton  (Karnak),  195,  197,  280  ff. , 471, 
S°3 

of  Mut,  281 

of  the  Sphinx,  41 1 

of  Tell  el  Amarna,  285  ff. , 287 

reliefs,  282 

Temples,  administration  of,  304 
artists  belonging  to,  416 
decoration  of,  283,  398,  403 
form  of,  279  ff. 
palaces  in,  70 
in  Nubia,  500,  503 
names  of,  284  ff. 
primitive,  280 
of  the  pyramids,  326 
Tenders,  legal,  123,  497 
Tenu,  country,  370  f. 

Tepem‘anch,  judge,  97 
Terofu,  see  Turah 
Tesen,  see  Dogs 
Tet’e-'an,  rebel,  102 
Tet’e,  king,  100,  232 
T'eursha  (T'urusha),  people,  49,  539,  540 
Tey,  queen,  119  ff.,  181 
princess,  55,  142 
Thales,  rocks  of,  468 
Thanksgiving,  harvest,  432 
Thebes,  burial-field,  314 

town,  16,  20  f. , 41,  46,  50,  107,  169 
seat  of  government,  41,  42  ff. 
forsaken  for  a time,  262 
lady  rulers  of,  296 
Thinis,  town,  23,  38 

Thoth,  god,  24,  88,  141,  269,  274,  282,  309, 
328,  333,  347.  348,  380 
Thothmes  I.,  43,  118  f. , 154,  500,  503 

II.  43,  77,  138,  503 

III. ,  36,  41,  43,  118,  138,  163,  281,  299, 

303.  3°7.  392,  396,  454’  464.  487.  5°o. 
514,  526  f. 
ode  to,  392,  396 

IV. ,  44,  154,  242 
Threshing-floor,  431,  432 
Throne  of  the  king,  63  f. 

of  the  god  Qeb,  271 

Throw-stick  (boomerang),  35,  234  ff. , 236 
Tin,  462 

Titles,  of  king,  36  ; of  queen,  73  f.  ; of  court 
officials,  72,  79,  89 
Toilet  requisites,  424 
Toilette  of  gods,  273,  274 
Tomb,  the,  5,  100,  101 


564 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


Tomb  of  the  O.  E. , 310  ft', 
of  the  M.  E. , 313  ff. 
of  the  N.E. , 314  ff. 
building  of,  318  ff. 
falling  into  decay  of,  324  f. 
chapel,  31 1 
endowments,  324  f. 
inscriptions,  311,  315 
of  Sety  I. , 398 
pictures,  31 1 f. , 314 
robbers,  1x4,  130  ff. , 325  ff. 

Tombs,  cost  of,  319 
decoration  of,  398 
grotto,  90,  312  ff. 
mastabah,  26  ff. , 310,  312,  319 
of  Dra-abul-nega,  304  f. , 304  note,  444 
of  Memphis,  172,  310  ff. 
of  Sakkarah,  494  f. 
of  Sawijet  el  Meitin,  40,  90,  452 
of  Schech  Said,  90 
of  Siut,  313,  322 
public,  of  the  poor,  310,  315 
Tools,  413,  453  f. 
agricultural,  428 
artists’,  413 
bronze,  460 

carpenters’  and  joiners’,  453 
iron,  461 
models  of,  454 
Tow-boats,  485 
Town  gods,  259 
Toys,  164  f. 

Trade,  home,  494  ff. 

foreign,  498  ff. , 514  ff. 
with  Nubia,  498  ff. 
with  Punt,  505  ff. 

Tradesmen,  10 1 
Trampling  in  the  seed,  429 
Transformation  of  the  soul,  306 
Transport  of  stone,  475  ff. , 506  f. , 523,  548, 
55° 

Travelling  boats,  482  ff. 
by  boat,  479  ff. 
by  land,  488  ff. 

Travellers’  stories,  370 

Treasurer,  lord  high,  85  f. , 89,  96  f. , 98,  108  ff. , 
474 

Treasurers  of  the  nome,  94 

of  the  god,  72  and  note,  76,  86,  96  (see 
’Ech’e  and  ’Entef) 

Treasures  of  Punt,  512,  514 
Treasury,  building,  288 

department,  85  f.,  89,  96  ff. , 108-113,  469, 

473.  474.  522 
of  Amon,  302 
royal,  95 

Treaty  with  Chetasar,  prince  of  the  Cheta,  48, 
S34  ff- 

Trees,  felling  of,  452  f. 
sacred,  348 

Tribes,  migration  of,  540 
Tribute  from  Nubia,  501  f. 

Triumphal  reception  of  Ramses  II.,  533 
T sem,  see  T’esem 

Tuet’anchamun,  king,  46,  501,  503  f. 

Turah,  quarries,  319,  470,  476 
Turet,  bread,  188 
Two  Brothers,  tale  of,  378 
Tye,  queen,  45,  46 
Typhon,  see  Set 
Tyre,  town,  382,  515 


Uadmes,  prince,  77 
Uad't,  goddess,  16 
Uag,  festival,  146 
Uashash,  people,  540 
Uashat'ete,  illness,  117 
Uauat,  country,  499 
Ud'ot  (Buto),  goddess,  270 
Ue'b,  priest,  289,  323 

under  the  O.  E. , 290  note 
of  Amon,  294  f. 
the  great,  292 
Ueset,  see  Thebes 
Umbrella,  490 

Un’e,  governor,  80,  83,  142,  318,  471,  522 
Un'es,  king,  39,  100,  203 
Unwarlike  character  of  the  Egyptians,  520  f. 
Upper  Egypt  : characteristics  of,  16  ff. , 56,  82  f. , 
85;  armorial  bearings  of  U.E. , 17;  patron 
goddess  of  U.E.,  16;  art  in  U.E.,  402  f.  ; 
government  of  U.E.  under  the  O. E. , 82  f. , 87 
Uraeus  snake,  60  f. , 65,  265  note,  274,  391 
used  as  decoration,  178 
Usechet,  audience  chamber,  69 
Usem,  see  Electron 

Usertsen  I.,  king,  88,  92  f. , 370,  464,  499,  523 

11. , 92 

111.,  41,  298,  499,  503,  524 
Ushebte,  answerers,  3x7 

Uten,  copper  piece,  123,  497 

Valley  of  the  Tombs,  325 
Vegetables,  435 
Vestments  of  officials,  21 1 
of  priests,  296 
Viceroys  of  Nubia,  504 
Vines,  197 

Vineyards,  no,  194,  196,  197,  383 
Violation  of  tombs,  114,  130  ff.,  325  ff. 
Volumetric  problems,  367 
Vowels,  335 


Wadded  armour,  545 
Wadi  Eshuranib,  463,  465 
Foachir,  463 
Gashs,  506 
Gerraui,  470 

Hammamat,  22,  381,  472  ff.,  506 
Maghara,  468  ff. 

Nasb,  468 
Sebu'  temple,  503 
Tumilat,  27,  526 
War-dances,  524 
Warlike  spirit  of  the  N.E. , 527  ff. 

Wars  with  the  Cheta,  527 
Washer  to  the  king,  62,  218 
Washing,  218 

basins,  179,  x8x,  192 
Water  birds,  442 

wheels,  385,  427 

Weapons,  124,  516,  524  ff. , 546  ff. 

makers  of,  191,  455,  514 
Weavers,  101,  449 
Weaving,  448 

Weighing  of  gold,  109,  464 
of  the  heart,  139,  309 
Wells,  boring  of,  465  f. , 506 
Wheat,  434 
Wheel,  potter's,  457 

Wigs  of  men,  218  ff.,  231,  298  ; of  women,  223  ff. 


INDEX 


565 


Wild  animals,  441 

Windows,  171,  173,  177  (cp.  balcony) 
Wine,  no,  196  ff. , 257 
jars,  179,  192,  198 
press,  197 

invention  of  wine,  269  note 
Winged  sun-disk,  272 
Winnowing,  432 
Witchcraft,  363 
Woman,  status  of,  150  ff. 

Wood,  451 

cutters,  452  f. 
foreign,  452 
painting  of,  452 
Wooden  buildings,  419 

figures,  magical,  317,  355 


Wooden  moulds,  419 
Word  symbols,  335 

Workmen,  companies  of,  123,  128  ; chief  work- 
man, 124  ; condition  of  workmen,  125  ; mor- 
ality of  workmen,  126,  154 
Worship,  funerary,  309,  31 1,  325 

Ychernofret,  chief  treasurer,  298 
Yenu'amu,  town,  299 
Ymery,  superintendent,  173,  189 
Ymhotep,  demigod,  357,  386 
Yoke  for  oxen,  445 


Zawijet  el  Meitin,  see  Satvijet  el  Meitin 
Zebu,  animal,  436 


2 O* 


TABLE  OF  PASSAGES  QUOTED  FROM  LEPSIUS,  “DENK- 
MALER,”  AND  FROM  THE  “SELECT  PAPYRI." 


LEPSIUS,  DENKMALER 


Part 

I. 

14  : 

336, 

337, 

434 

30: 

284, 

286 

581, 

582, 

584 

PI.  22 
25 

: 419 

2AZ 

15  : 

435. 
1 1 1, 

580, 

115, 

587 

130 

31  : 

284, 

586 

286, 

580 

51 

587, 
: 260, 

648 

569, 

570 

26 

294, 

579, 

581 

32  : 

282, 

2S6, 

293 

57L 

572, 

573 

29 

• 2/1  C 

16  : 

130. 

201, 

227 

307, 

3 1 3> 

638 

575 

30 

41 

63 

: 244, 
: 245, 
: 241 

246, 

594 

422 

17  : 

245 

245. 

(cp. 

260, 

Ber.) 

3°7 

333 

33  : 

34  : 

245, 
3i  3 
107, 

293, 

m, 

3°7 

115 

52 

: 247, 

270, 

337, 

260, 

333, 

34i 

266 

336 

(cp. 

64 

: 241 

18-22  : 

587 
1 12, 

129, 

580 

35-37  : 

130, 

97, 

i33, 

107, 

430 

III 

Ber. 

345, 

),  342 
435 

,344 

Part 

II. 

18  : 

646 

286 

35 

293, 

3°7, 

53 

: 1 15, 

277, 

27S 

PI.  2 

HI, 

”5, 

36 

337, 

434, 

436 

279, 

33C 

34i 

: 93,  96,  357 

3i3. 

533 

260 

235, 

299, 

303 

342, 

343, 

345 

536, 

622 

19  : 

235. 

259, 

307, 

313, 

333 

54 

: 235, 

312, 

533 

3-7 

122, 

125, 

127 

262, 

282, 

286 

33C 

34i 

(cp. 

58o, 

584, 

587 

130 

292, 

293, 

294 

Ber. 

,342, 

344 

55-58 

: 1 1 2 

3 

124, 

282, 

284 

3°°. 

302, 

3°3 

37 

431 

55 

: 300 

3°4> 

329, 

476 

307. 

3 1 3, 

533 

39 

93, 

95, 

3ii 

56 

: 260, 

294, 

336 

4 

282, 

293. 

535 

20  : 

83, 

235, 

247 

53C 

622 

57L 

573 

5 

294, 

3°3. 

476 

262, 

286, 

294 

40 

307 

57 

: 260, 

262, 

264 

6 

284, 

329. 

330 

307, 

3 1 3, 

3i5 

41-42 

11 5, 

13°, 

J33 

271, 

294, 

295 

533 

533 

41 

1 1 1, 

336, 

559 

3°°, 

3°2, 

3°3 

7 

: 247, 

272, 

276 

21  : 

286, 

293, 

294 

42 

260, 

323, 

326 

579, 

580 

8 

235, 

282. 

283 

3°°. 

3i3, 

3i5 

43-44 

130 

58 

: 294, 

295, 

300 

293. 

294. 

302 

533, 

534 

43 

201, 

294, 

304 

3°2, 

580 

307 

22 

1 1 1 

[cp.  Ber.) 

323, 

326, 

569 

59 

: 341 

9 

: 148, 

165, 

283 

ii5 

(cp.  Ber.) 

572, 

573, 

574 

60-64 

: 125, 

126, 

129 

292, 

293. 

294 

125 

(cp.  Ber.) 

639, 

640, 

649 

130, 

133 

(cp. 

3°3, 

304, 

307 

235, 

282, 

286 

44 

260, 

282, 

284 

Ber. 

311 

cp.  Ber.  1 

292, 

293, 

3°7 

304 

60 

: 291, 

321, 

3^3 

323, 

326 

3*o, 

313, 

436 

45-48 

hi, 

I23> 

r33 

5Sl, 

585, 

636 

535. 

572, 

574 

638, 

639 

45 

282, 

293, 

303 

61 

: 148. 

260, 

277 

575. 

581, 

586 

23 

134, 

235, 

236 

581, 

584, 

587 

(cp.  Ber.), 

279 

10 

: 217, 

235. 

245 

284, 

286, 

292 

638, 

639, 

640 

299, 

336, 

34i 

260, 

266, 

303 

293, 

303, 

533 

46 

293, 

3L3, 

323 

342, 

344, 

345 

11 

400 

24 

670, 

676 

324, 

326, 

329 

349, 

559, 

586 

: 148, 

235, 

245 

293, 

294, 

435 

330, 

33  L 

587 

587. 

601, 

603 

260, 

294. 

302 

580, 

587, 

639 

47 

260, 

333, 

535 

62 

: 581, 

582, 

641 

304, 

329, 

332 

25 

282, 

293, 

304 

572, 

573, 

574 

63 

: 264, 

282 

12 

: 115, 

292, 

294 

307 

575, 

580, 

581 

64 

: 264, 

310 

323, 

326, 

535 

26 

115 

48 

107, 

245, 

476 

64  bis 

: 305, 

434, 

639 

584, 

585. 

636 

27-29 

I23, 

125 

49-54 

1 12 

65-70 

: 97, 

3 03 

13 

: 217, 

260, 

277 

27 

235, 

3°4, 

307 

49 

277, 

312, 

598 

65 

: III 

284, 

293. 

312 

3I3 

638, 

639 

601, 

602, 

603 

66 

: 266, 

268, 

303 

315. 

332. 

572 

28 

293, 

608 

435, 

580. 

582 

606, 

608 

641 

50 

303, 

33  2, 

333 

583, 

584, 

586 

568 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


67 

: 435 

325,  581,  582 

132 

: 219,  305,  310 

26 

68 

: 391,  401,  435 

584,  585,  586 

329,  331,  580 

69 

: 60,  283,  293 

106 

: 294,  323,  326 

581,  582,  584 

28 

3io,  579,  583 

569,  571,  572 

585,  586,  587 

29 

584 

573,  574,  583 

588 

30 

70 

: 579,  58o,  581 

593,  636 

133 

: 344 

31 

584,  587 

107 

: 292,  332,  333 

134 

: 136,  260,  287 

34 

71 

574,  575,  576 

569,  570,  572 

313,  394,  559 

35 

72 

125,  130,  292 

108 

: 538,  600,  601 

633  f- 

36 

73-75 

123,  129,  131 

602,  603,  604 

135 

: 143,  144,  377 

37 

133 

110 

: 130,  305 

394 

38 

73 

133  (cp-  Ber.) 

111 

: 130,  277,  305 

136 

153  (cp.  Ber.) 

39 

235,  314,  435 

538,  559,  600 

629,  659,  660 

476,  572,  573 

112 

: 282,  437 

661,  664,  691 

40 

574,  575 

113 

: 125  (cp.  Ber.) 

137 

129,  143,  144 

41 

74 

260,  283,  292 

126,  437,  692 

620,  621,  622 

42 

304,  307,  310 

115 

• 99,  357,  553 

138 

153,  173,  222 

34i,  342,  344 

626,  627,  668 

385,  629,  690 

43 

345,  580,  581 

116 

: 93,  536,  622 

691 

45 

606,  608 

668 

139 

661 

46 

75 

hi,  123,  688 

118 

: 629 

140 

143,  622 

47 

6-78 

123,  129,  130 

121 

: 305,  394,  395 

142 

231,  395 

55 

131,  133 

537 

143 

231,  394  (cp. 

56 

76 

43i,  643 

122 

: 132,  136,  137 

Ber.),  623 

59 

77 

266,  268,  328 

139,  158,  231 

144 

143,  153,  622 

62 

581,  582,  583 

566,  567,  616 

691 

584,  586,  636 

660,  690 

149 

106,  144,  628 

63 

78 

133  (cp-  Ber.) 

123 

: 660 

668,  669,  690 

64 

283,  315,  434 

124 

: 68,  135  (cp. 

150 

142,  143,  670 

65 

435,  648 

Ber.),  136,  226 

151 

629,  660,  661 

67 

79 

312 

434 

152 

581,  621,  622 

68 

80 

312,  572,  573 

125 

140,  437 

661 

69 

574,  575,  581 

126-132 

140 

83 

294,  3i° 

126 

220,  261,  262 

Part  III. 

71 

84  : 

125,  130,  133 

264,  268,  286 

75 

86 

hi,  292 

287,  293,  299 

PI.  1 

290,  305,  312 

76 

88  : 

123,  125,  130 

301,  305,  312 

2 : 

98,  298,  307 

89  : 

107,  1 1 1,  292 

3 36,  338,  432 

308,  309,  313 

3°4 

434,  538,  595 

316,  545 

90  : 

294,  307 

596,  600,  601 

3 : 

160,  293,  623 

77 

91  : 

97,  477,  580 

602,  603,  604 

631 

581,  586 

606,  609,  610 

5 : 

679,  680 

92  : 

477 

643,  648 

7 : 

538 

94  : 

130 

127 

129,  141,  279 

8 : 

235 

78 

95  : 

97,  in 

286,  287,  293 

9 : 

152,  260,  287 

91  : 

96  : 

263  (cp.  Ber.) 

299,  309,  326 

291,  295,  3°5 

268,  277,  300 

402,  432,  434 

(cp.  Ber.),  31 1 

92-94  : 

326,  329,  33 1 

559,  569,  57o 

321,  323,  333 

92  : 

581,  582,  583 

572,  573,  574 

538 

584,  586,  595 

577,  584,  636 

10-11  : 

157 

93  : 

639,  641,  654 

643,  690 

10  : 

1 17,  235,  287 

97  : 

hi,  123,  129 

128 

155,  219,  261 

(cp.  Ber.),  292 

314 

264,  287  (cp. 

293,  3°5,  3io 

94  : 

98  : 

246,  271,  312 

Ber.),  295  (cp. 

516,  569,  570 

(cp.  Ber.) 

Ber.),  305  (cp. 

574,  577,  578 

100  : 

97,  in,  124 

Ber.),  307  (cp. 

588,  615,  644 

95  : 

128,  129,  134 

Ber.),  309,  31 1 

645,  650,  651 

96  : 

688 

435,  58i 

721 

97  : 

101  : 

299,  336,  337 

129 

155,  264,  271 

11  : 

277,  538 

34i,  434,  642 

435,  58i 

12: 

152,  173,  221 

102  : 

581,  582,  586 

130 

217,  219,  286 

225,  287,  288 

98  : 

587 

287,  291,  295 

333, 538, 554 

103  : 

107,  123,  129 

305,  307,  31 1 

555, 713 

130,  133,  (cp. 

313,  32i,  322 

14  : 

374,  402,  538 

99: 

Ber.),  576, 

323,  326,  335 

15  : 

382, 538 

638,  639,  641, 

636 

17  : 

11 2,  538,  644 

100: 

654 

131 

264,  286,  287 

646 

104  : 

133  (cp-  Ber.) 

292,  293,  310 

20: 

538 

315  (cp.  Ber.) 

31 1,  312,  329 

24  : 

105, 528 

434,  580,  642 

331,  581,  584 

25  : 

71,  117,  158 

101  : 

105  : 

268,  283,  323 

586,  690 

411 

102  : 

■■  293>  397,  4i i 
554,  603 
: 622 

: 31 1.  622,  668 
: 5S8,  61 1,  685 

: IOI 

: 414 
: 382,  414 
: 382 
: 383,  465 
: 411 

■■  261 , 305,  399 
615,  616 
293,  539,  557 
292,  293,  551 
295,  299,  3°7 
308,  539 
152,  215 
383,  665 
665 
665 
665 
665 
664 

287,  295,  308 

397 

177 

177,  261,  605 
529,  695 
538 

329  (cp.  Ber. ) 
11 7,  287  (cp. 
Ber.),  288 
622,  623 
414 

98,  159,  292 

306,  307,  312 
316  (cp.  Ber.) 
317,  644,  656 

98,  159,  288 

292,  305,  3°6 

307,  3 1 1,  312 
569 

201 

288,  290,  299 
309 

100,  109 
1 12,  290,  718 
719 

252,  266,  267 
271,  288,  297 
306 

293,  297,  308 
387,  402,  664 
718 

388 

252,  293,  387 
174,  288,  297 

308,  355,  542 

649,  7i8,  719 

hi,  1 12,  1 13 
290,  3°6,  355 

541 

258,  261,  541 

542 

112,  1 13,  114 
261,  298,  306 
308,  542,  553 
554,  649 
111,  288,  290 

387 


TABLE  OF  PASSAGES  QUOTED 


569 


103-105 

174 

402, 

403, 

651 

167 

108 

715,  721, 

723 

103 

258, 

Is) 

OC 

CO 

GJ 

0 

695. 

703, 

708 

168 

718 

222 

: 629 

541 

129 

404 

169 

46S, 

542 

223 

: 668 

104 

ill, 

288, 541 

130 

543, 

651, 

695 

171 

443 

224 

: 312  (cp.  Ber.) 

719 

132 

1 13, 

400, 

554 

172 

297, 

542 

227-228 

: 466 

105 

ill, 

1 1 7,  261 

136 

56 

173: 

306, 

3!°, 

3” 

229 

: 1 77,  289, 

297 

289, 

293.  307 

138 

652, 

715, 

720 

(cp. 

Ber.) 

555,  667 

719 

140 

106, 

617, 

620 

174 

IOI, 

402, 

666 

230 

: 177,  261, 

289 

106 

220, 

235.  256 

668 

175 

IOI, 

402, 

566 

297,  3°9, 

316 

266, 

27L  344 

145 

701 

176 

1 17 

289, 

290 

231 

: 289,  290, 

297 

355. 

542,  562 

146 

703 

306 

298,  718 

107 

355 

147 

37L 

542 

178 

665 

235 

: 562 

108-109 

i74, 

258 

153-155 

544 

179 

115 

236 

: 345,  403 

108 

258, 

54i 

153 

289, 

3°6, 

542 

183: 

289 

237 

: 397,  398 

109. 

54i 

651, 

696, 

698 

184 

297, 

332, 

666 

240 

: 308  (cp.  Ber. ) 

110 

624 

718 

186 

297 

309 

113 

323 

289,  290 

154 

1 17, 

684, 

698 

187  : 

106, 

306, 

709 

241 

: 554 

115 

99. 

71S 

714, 

718 

242 

: 1 13,  1 14, 

160 

305, 

312,  681 

155 

332, 

7i7, 

720 

188 

545 

434,  554 

116-118 

662 

156 

1 1 7, 

545, 

684 

195 

524 

288 

: 303,  304 

116 

289, 

300,  306 

718 

196  : 

297 

289 

: 303,  3°4, 

307 

311, 

644,  645 

157-161 

545, 

699 

200  : 

397, 

399, 

41 1 

290 

: 303 

681 

157  : 

684 

201  : 

297, 

542 

291 

: 93  (cp.  I 

ler.) 

117  : 

289, 

297,  589 

158  : 

684 

202  : 

87, 

297 

615, 

666,  718 

159  : 

108 

206  : 

542 

119 

383 

160: 

651, 

720 

208  : 

1 15, 

261, 

349 

Part  I\ . 

121 

98, 

293,  306 

162-164  : 

IOI 

210  : 

385 

649, 

718 

162  : 

289, 

402 

211  : 

385, 

545 

PL  57- 

58  : 102 

125  : 

383 

164-165  : 

544, 

699 

212-213  : 

IOI 

126 

651 

164  : 

684 

214: 

117, 

289, 

718 

1 

’ART  VI. 

127  : 

384. 

404,  681 

165  : 

651, 

684, 

720 

217  : 

83, 

289, 

290 

695 

166  : 

1 16, 

1 17, 

235 

298, 

3i3, 

314 

PI.  22  : 

438,  629 

128 

158, 

289,  306 

651 

219  : 

629, 

650, 

714 

23  : 

624,  629 

SELECT  PAPYRI  OF  THE  BRITISH  MUSEUM 


Saltier  I. 

3,  5 If.  : 167,  168,  187 

5H 

5,  11  ff.  : 179,  590 

6,  8 : 442,  443 

9,  9 ff.  : 348,  447 

Saltier  II. 

3,  9 ff.  : 444 

4,  1 : 444 
4,  2 ff.  : 442 
4,  6 ff.  : 553, 

4,  8 ff  : 593 

5.  1 : 553 
5,  3 ff.  : 150 
5,  5 ff  : 150 

7,  2 ff  : 150 

7,  4 ff.  : 150, 

8,  1 : 599 

8,  2 ff.  : 300 

9,  1 : 442 
9,  4 : 445 

10,  2 : 445 

10,  6 : 348,  445 

11,  3 : 225 

Saltier  III. 

in  a general  sense  : 525  f. 

1,  1 : 720 

2,  10  : 681 
5,  3 ff  : 695 


592 


679 


Saltier  IV. 

in  a general  sense  : 359, 
470 

14  reverse  side  : 449 


Anastasi  I. 

in  a general  sense : 308  ff 
1,  1-3  : 508 
1,  7 : 508 

1,  8 : 723 

2,  3 ff  : 508,  723 
4,  6 ff.  : 509,  652 
7,  4 ff  : 509 

7,  8 : 509 
9,  3 ff  : 509 

10,  1 : 715 

11,  1 : 18 

11,  8 ff.  : 178,  509 

14,  1 ff  : 510 

15,  3 : 510,  626 

17,  2 ff.  : 510,  629,  714 

716 

18,  3 : 509 

18,  4-21,  8:511 
18,  4 : 510 
23,  2 : 510 
23,  3 ff  : 512 
25,  2 ff  : 512 
28,  1 : 510 
28,  2 f.  : 509 
28,  7 : 512 


Anastasi  III. 

1,  9 ff.  : 721 

1,  11  ff  : 514 

2,  1 : 242 

2,  6 : 276  (cp.  Ber.) 

3,  2 ff.  : 317,  703 
3,  6 : 266 

3,  7 : 342 

3,  9 ff  : 446 

4,  1 ff  : 332,  445 

4,  12  : 443 

4-6  reverse  side  : 685,708 
715,  720 

5,  5 reverse  side  : 186 

5,  5 ff.  : 447,  722 

6,  3 ff  : 443,  721 
6,  4 : 225,  720 

6,  5 : 590 

6,  7 : 225  (cp.  Ber.) 

650 

6,  11  ff.  : 178 

7,  5 : 259 

7,  11  : 721 

8,  3 : 156,  265 
8,  5 : 266,  270 

Anastasi  IV. 

in  a general  sense  : 169 
2,  4 ff  : 514 
2.  12  : 664 
, 3,  2 ff.  : 177,  652 
! 3,  6 : 645 


3,  8 : 317 
3,  10  : 648,  68 1 

3,  11  : 172,  589 

4,  2 : 173 
4,  3 : 1 72 
4,  7 : 202 

4,  8 ff  : 186 
4,  9 : 106 
4,  9 reverse  side  : 
4,  10  : 92 

4,  11  ff  : 172 

5,  6 : 108 

5,  6 ff  : 103 

5,  9 : 107 

6,  1 ff  : 241 
6,  6 : 1 31 

6,  7 ff.  : 707 

6,  10  ff  : 161,  645 

646 

7,  1 : 386 
7,  7 : 191 

7,  9 ff  : 160,  161 

8,  7 : 444 

8,  8 : 169 

9,  4 ff  : 447,  722 
9,  7 : 593 

10.  5 ff.  : 173,  300 

10,  8 ff  : 163,  170 

11,  8 ff  : 348,  447 

12,  2 : 345 

12,  5 ff  : 171 

13,  4 : 589 
13,  6 : 478 


166 


570 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


13,  8 ff.  : 160,  162 
13,  12  ff.  : 266  (cp.  Ber.) 
15,  1 ff.  : 160,  162,  266 
15,  4 : 316 

15,  5 ff.  : 327,  589 

16,  2 : 156,  265 
16,  3 : 266,  270 

16,  12  : 611 

16  reverse  side  : 160, 161 
169,554 

1 7,  6 : 266  (cp.  Ber. ) 

17,  9:  588  ' 

Anastasi  V. 

6,  2 : 514  (cp.  Ber.) 

7,  6 : 186 

8,  1 ff.  : 446 
8,  6 : 445 

8,  7 : 332 

8,  7 ff.  : 445 

9,  2 : 443 

9,  2-10,  2 : 444 
9,  5:  157,  168,  443 
10,  1 : 186 
10,  3 ff.  : 187 
10,  5 f.  : 186 

10,  8 ff.  : 168,  443 

11,  2 ff.  : 178 

11,  7 ff.  : 172,  715 


12,  7 : 653 
14,  Iff.:  179 
14,  5 : 178 
14,  6 : 166 

14,  7-15,  5 : 172 

15,  6 ff.  : 179,  590 

17,  7 : 443 

18,  1 : 444 

18,  1-3  : 445 

19,  2 ff.  : 708 
19,  6 : 107 

21,  1:  653 

21,  4 : 654 

21,  8 ff.  : 153,  723 

22,  6 ff.  : 444 

22,  8 : 444 

23,  7 ff.  : 723 

24,  4:  156 

25,  2 f.  : 715 

25,  6 ff.  : 166 

26,  5 : 715,  716 

27,  3-7  : 170 

Anastasi  VI. 

in  a general  sense  : 164, 
171 

2,  11  : 186 

3,  5 : 186  (cp.  Ber.) 

3,  8-9  : 169 


3,  12:  167  (cp.  Ber.) 

3,  13  : 160 

4,  13  ff.  : 708 

6,  12  : 203 

Anastasi  VII. 

2,  3 ff.  : 150 

2,  6 ff.  : 150,  679 

3,  4 : 599 

3,  5 ff.  : 300 

4,  6 : 442 

Anastasi  IX. 

3 : 167 

d'  Orbiney. 

in  a general  sense : 505  ff 
1,  7 : 589 

1,  10  : 582 

2,  2 : 569 
2,  3 : 567 

7,  9 : 507 
10,  8 ff.  : 300 
17,  5 : 652 

Abbott. 

in  a general  sense  : 1 56, 
157,  158,  171,  189  ff. 


1,  7 : 715 
1,  10  : 715 
1,  11  : 166 

1,  12:  166 

2,  5 : 166 
•3,  3 : 159 

3,  17  : 400 

4,  1 : 188 
4,  3 : 434 
4,  4 : 61 1 

4,  13:  181 

5,  11  : 186  (cp.  Ber.) 
5,  13  : 181 

5,  16  : 190 

5,  19  : 132 

6,  5 : 181  (cp.  Ber.) 
6,  5 ff.  : 185 

6,  11  : 166 
6,  14  : 106 
6,  16  : 132 

6,  21  : 190 

7,  1 : 202 

7,  2 : 202,  203 

7,  3 : 158 

7,  3 ff.  : 203 

7,  5 : 186  (cp.  Ber.) 

7,  14  : 204 

7,  16:  167 

8 : 198 


THE  END 


Printed  by  R.  & R.  Clark,  Edinburgh. 


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Walter  Leaf,  Litt.D.  Illustrated  with  Portraits,  Maps,  and 
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STUDIES  OF  THE  GODS  IN  GREECE  AT  CERTAIN 
SANCTUARIES  RECENTLY  EXCAVATED.  Being  Eight 
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Dyer,  B.A.  Oxon.,  late  Assistant  Professor  in  Harvard  University. 
Extra  Crown  8vo.  8s.  6d.  net. 

MYTHOLOGY  AND  MONUMENTS  OF  ANCIENT 

ATHENS.  Being  a Translation  of  a Portion  of  the  “Attica”  of 
Pausanias.  By  Margaret  de  G.  Verrall.  With  Introductory 
Essay  and  Archaeological  Commentary  by  JANE  E.  HARRISON, 
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Art,”  etc.  With  Illustrations  and  Plans.  Crown  8vo.  16s. 

ANCIENT  ROME  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  RECENT  DIS- 
COVERIES. By  Rodolfo  Lanciani,  LL.D.  Harv.,  Professor  of 
Archaeology  in  the  University  of  Rome,  Director  of  Excavations  Ra- 
the National  Government  and  the  Municipality  of  Rome,  etc.  With 
100  Illustrations.  Small  4to.  24s. 

PAGAN  AND  CHRISTIAN  ROME.  By  Rodolfo  Lanciani, 

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Profusely  Illustrated.  Small  4to.  24s. 

EARLY  MAN  IN  BRITAIN  AND  HIS  PLACE  IN  THE 
TERTIARY  PERIOD.  By  W.  Boyd  Dawkins,  M.A.,  F.R.S., 
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Geology  and  Palaeontology  in  Owens  College,  Manchester.  Illus- 
trated. Medium  8vo.  25s. 

PREHISTORIC  ANNALS  OF  SCOTLAND.  By  Sir 
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of  Toronto.  In  two  Vols.  With  Plates.  8vo.  36s. 

THE  CIVILISATION  OF  SWEDEN  IN  HEATHEN 
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ANTHROPOLOGY  : An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Man 
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THE  GOLDEN  BOUGH.  A Study  in  Comparative  Religion. 
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STUDIES  IN  ANCIEN1  HISTORY.  Comprising  a Reprint 

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Helsingfors.  With  Preface  by  Dr.  A.  R.  WALLACE.  Second 
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Date  Due 


DT60 .E71 

Life  in  ancient  Egypt, 


Princeton  Theological 


Seminary-Speer  Library 


1 1012  00002  2154 


